NEW YORK – Security was increased at several SoHo high schools on Wednesday after a 16-year-old boy was shot and killed nearby on Tuesday.
Makhi Brown, a student at Broome Street Academy Charter High School, was was killed in a shooting in broad daylight on Tuesday between Spring Street and Dominick Street.
A swarm of school safety officers surrounded a block of high schools in SoHo on Wednesday, providing extra security, bringing in metal detectors and conducting bag checks.
There had not been a shooting in the neighborhood for over sixteen months.
Mahki Brown’s family, friends and neighbors are in mourning
Brown commuted to the school from his home in East Flatbush. His heartbroken friends and neighbors said he commuted more than an hour to the school every day to better his future and pursue his dreams of playing basketball.
“That’s the only thing he loved: basketball,” said a neighbor. “He tried to keep his grades up so he could stay on the teams.”
“It’s sad that someone wakes up and doesn’t see their child alive the next morning, knowing that you’re leaving to see him go to school, and he’s not coming home,” one neighbor said.
The East Flatbush apartment complex where Brown lived is in mourning and trying to find ways to support Brown’s mother.
“That baby was murdered. It was her only child. Do you know how much pain women can go through right now? It’s unimaginable,” said another neighbor.
“It takes a village to hold mommy right now,” one neighbor said.
Search for suspects
Police say a fight broke out between two groups near Dominick and Spring streets around school time, just blocks from Broome Street Academy Charter High School where Brown attended.
Shots rang out and the bullets struck Brown in the head and leg, killing him.
“We were in a women’s literature class doing poetry, and around 2:50 p.m. we heard a bang,” said high school student Lily Burch.
“Someone got out on a stretcher and I thought, ‘What’s going on.’ So I checked the Citizen app and it said someone had been shot,” said high school student Simon Galkin.
“Too many guns on the streets. Too many kids to have access to guns,” said SoHo resident Thomas Libonati.
Police say they are still looking for two suspects, including the gunman who escaped on a Citi Bike. It is not clear who the intended target was.
Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All conversations are treated confidentially.
Natalie Duddridge
