Eight injured, including four children, after shooting at Fourth of July party in New York’s Coney Island

A family Fourth of July celebration in Brooklyn’s Coney Island neighborhood in New York turned into a scene of violence after at least eight people were injured in a shooting, including four children.

According to the New York Police Department (NYPD), the incident was reported at around 10:35 p.m. on Saturday, as a family was celebrating in the yard of their home. The attacker approached the fence along Surf Avenue, fired several shots toward the crowd, and then fled quickly.

The suspect was dressed entirely in black and was wearing a face mask.

At the scene, officers found eight people wounded: four boys aged 6, 7, 12 and 14, two women aged 21 and 25, as well as two men aged 33 and 37.

Authorities said the 21-year-old woman and the 33-year-old man were shot in the chest, while the 6-year-old boy was wounded in the abdomen. The three other boys suffered leg injuries. The 21-year-old woman is in critical condition, while the other seven injured people are out of danger.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani strongly condemned the attack.

“There is no place for such violence in our city. We will not tolerate it and we will fight it with every means at our disposal. As we share the pain of the families of the injured, we must commit to ensuring that every celebration and every holiday is safe for our citizens,” he said.

Police have not yet disclosed the identities of the victims and have not confirmed the motive for the attack. However, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said there had been no conflict or argument at the party before the shooting.

She also said that last week, on the same street, a killing linked to criminal gang activity was recorded, while investigators are checking whether the two cases are connected.

A TEC-9 firearm and 10 shell casings were seized from the scene.

Meanwhile, another gun-related incident was recorded in Brooklyn in the early hours of Sunday morning. A New York Police Department detective was shot during a confrontation with an armed 18-year-old in the Crown Heights neighborhood.

According to authorities, the bullet struck the officer’s bulletproof vest, and he did not suffer serious injuries.