A man shot and killed in a Brooklyn neighborhood undergoing a surge of gun violence was arrested for shooting a rival on the same street corner in 2019.
Lamont Russell, 30, was shot multiple times in the chest Saturday night double in Brownsville. A 28-year-old man also suffered a gunshot wound to his hand, police said.
Shots rang out on Osborn St. near Pitkin Ave. in Brownsville, just steps away from NYCHA’s Howard Houses, around 11 p.m., police said.
Theodore Parisienne for New York Daily News
A 30-year-old old man was pronounced dead at Brookdale Hospital after he was shot multiple times in the chest in Brownsville on Saturday. (Theodore Parisienne for New York Daily News)
Medics took both victims to Brookdale University Hospital, where Russell died. He lived in Bedford-Stuyvesant, according to cops.
“I heard around five gunshots — it was quick,” a 60-year-old man who declined to give his name said Sunday. “I come outside here and I see the blood splatter.”
Russell was arrested under the name Lamont Debose for attempted murder for a shooting that took place March 12, 2019 at the same corner where he met his demise, said police. He was found guilty of just gun possession in that case.
According to a criminal complaint, Russell fired one round at Krishaun Rogers, striking the victim in the back as he ran away. Police also said Russell had stolen two cell phones from the man.
Russell was ordered conditionally released in August after serving nearly three years in state prison for his conviction on gun possession, according to the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
The killing is the latest in the 73rd Precinct, which has seen a spike in homicides this year. There were 12 slayings through May 19, compared to just four by the same point last year. The increase comes despite a 15% drop in murders citywide so far this year.
As of Sunday, 26 people have been shot in the precinct this year as opposed to 15 by this time last year, an increase of 73.3%, according to NYPD data.
Police are looking for someone who ran north toward the Howard Houses after the shooting.
Family remembered Russell as as charming and outgoing.
“He was always very energetic. He was a charismatic people person,” said his nephew Rashad Jenkins, 32. “He was funny. He loved to make people laugh.”
The victim’s heartbroken girlfriend wrote that he was a “great man father brother son” on an online fundraiser.
“My man my partner my heart,” posted Tyisha Berry. “I want to send him off the right way like the KING he is.”
