Brooklyn Teen Arrested for July 4th BBQ Shooting

Around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday evening, just a few hours before Independence Day fireworks were set to pop over the East River, a crowd of Brooklyn picnickers came under a rain of bullets.

Police say a 15-year-old shooter — identified by various news outlets as Williamsburg resident Tyrone Whidbee — rode up to Sumner Playground on a bicycle and fired on a group having a barbecue.

“It was terrible over here yesterday,” writes a Brooklyn News 12 commenter identifying herself as Shakonya Bynes. She claims children were in the area at the time of the shooting.

One man on a nearby sidewalk was hit amid the chaos.

“The victim was a 52-year-old male,” a police spokesman tells Patch. “He was coming home from the store when he saw [the suspect] firing a gun and people running from the scene. When the victim turned to run as well, he felt pain in the upper left side of his back.”

The bullet traveled clear through the man’s back, police say. He survived the shooting, though, and is currently in stable condition at Kings County Hospital.

After the attack, police say the shooter headed north on foot toward Flushing Avenue. He reportedly tried to ditch his handgun at the intersection of Humboldt and Debevoise, but was blocked by a police car and arrested soon after.