At least 8 wounded after a masked gunman opens fire at a July 4 barbecue in Brooklyn; shooter at large

At least eight people, including four children, were wounded after a gunman opened fire at a July 4 barbecue party in Brooklyn. According to a CNN report, citing the New York Police Department, the incident took place in Coney Island at around 10:35 pm (local time).

An unidentified man dressed in black and wearing a black ski mask approached the fence line along Surf Avenue and fired multiple rounds into the courtyard of a home, where a family was celebrating the US Independence Day. The suspect soon fled the location on foot. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said officers responding to the scene found eight people suffering from gunshot wounds.

The victims of the incident included four boys aged 6, 7, 12 and 14, two women aged 21 and 25, and two men aged 33 and 37. Police said that the 21-year-old woman and the 33-year-old man were shot in the chest, while a six-year-old boy sustained a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

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Apart from this, three older boys were shot in the leg or thigh. The authorities noted that the 21-year-old woman who was shot on the site remains in critical condition, CNN reported.

Mamdani condemns the incident

Soon after the incident, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a statement in which they said, "There is no place for this kind of violence in our city. We will not tolerate it, and we will fight it with every single tool at our disposal," New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.

Authorities have not identified the victims or established a motive for the shooting. Tisch also noted that there was no indication of any argument or altercation before the gunfire erupted. However, she maintained that "a confirmed gang-related homicide" had occurred on the same block last week and investigators were examining "whether there is a nexus between the two incidents."

According to CNN, the investigators have also recovered a TEC-9-style firearm with an extended magazine and 10 spent shell casings from the scene. No arrests have been made as of now.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident elsewhere in Brooklyn, an NYPD detective was shot shortly after 4 am (local time) on Sunday after officers encountered an armed 18-year-old man in the Crown Heights neighbourhood who approached their unmarked vehicle, CNN reported, citing Tisch.

At that time, the mayor said the detective was struck in the back of his ballistic vest and did not suffer serious injuries. He added that the officer had been working a 12-hour shift since Saturday afternoon, "protecting New Yorkers on the Fourth of July." The suspect was eventually Tasered, disarmed and taken into custody, Mamdani noted.

With inputs from agencies.