Police have released surveillance footage of the suspected gunman who fatally shot 25-year-old Denzel Chad and wounded four others at the West Indian Day Parade earlier this month.
Investigators say the suspect has a dark complexion, slim build and medium-length black hair and was last seen wearing a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt, black shorts and white sneakers.
The release of the surveillance stills comes two weeks after state Sen. Zellnor Myrie and nine other Brooklyn pols sent a letter to Mayor Adams and Gov. Hochul slamming the NYPD for failing to stop the deadly parade-day shooting spree.
“Many of our constituents who have heard public reports have asked how someone could hop a barrier and open fire with thousands of law enforcement officials present in the immediate vicinity,” the Sept. 5 letter read in part.
The pols’ letter came hot on the heels of Chad’s death Sept. 3, one day after he and four other victims were struck as the gunman opened fire near the corner of Eastern Parkway and Franklin Ave. in Crown Heights around 2:30 p.m., NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said.
Chad’s family demanded justice in the wake of their loved one’s tragic death.
“I hope they catch him. We’re looking for justice!” Chan’s aunt Carol Dover told the Daily News. “Denzel was a good person. He would speak quietly, no disrespect to no one.”
Born and raised in East Flatbush, Chad lived with his 60-year-old father Collin Dover, who had no idea his son had attended the parade.
“He lived with me right up to now, since he was a baby,” the heartbroken dad said. “Now he’s 25 and I had no problems with him.”
The four surviving victims, including 64-year-old Marius Sirju, his 69-year-old sister-in-law Gertrude Lake, a 36-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy, all survived the violence.
All five victims were on the sidewalk among thousands of other spectators when the gunman fired from the concrete divider between the Eastern Parkway service road and the parade route, Chell said.
Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News
NYPD Officers search for evidence at Eastern Parkway and Franklin Avenue after someone opened fire and hit four people around 2:30PM. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News)
“I heard the shots,” said Tito Guillette, 63, who traveled to Brooklyn from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to see the parade. “We just saw people running. I didn’t think it was shots. It’s carnival time, it’s party time. I thought it was firecrackers or something.”
Sirju was struck twice, with one bullet grazing his arm and another punching through his shoulder.
The 64-year-old Brooklyn resident shunned the West Indian Day parade for more than two decades after witnessing a shooting there. But this year he had relatives from Trinidad visiting and wanted to show them all the brilliantly colored floats and dancers along the parade route.
“I’m never going back there no more. No siree,” Sirju told The News. “I could have been a dead man. I could be in cold storage right now.”
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