Eight People Including Four Children Shot at Coney Island Barbecue; Police Investigate Possible Gang Link

Eight people, four of them children, were shot and wounded during a Fourth of July celebration in Brooklyn's Coney Island section on Saturday evening. The shooting occurred at about 10:35 p.m. on West 30th Street near the boardwalk.

An unknown male dressed in all black and wearing a black ski mask approached the fence line of a courtyard where a family barbecue was underway, fired multiple rounds, and fled on foot, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. The victims included a 33-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman both shot in the chest, a 25-year-old woman, a 37-year-old man struck in the shoulder, two six-year-old boys shot in the stomach, a seven-year-old boy shot in the legs or thigh, and boys aged 12 and 14.

All eight were taken to hospitals.

Seven were listed in stable condition and the 21-year-old woman remained in critical condition. Police recovered a pistol with an extended magazine and 10 shell casings at the scene. No arrests had been made as of Sunday.

Tisch said there was no indication of any argument or altercation at the barbecue before the shooting. Tisch noted that a gang-related homicide had recently occurred on the same block, with investigators examining a possible connection. As of Sunday morning, at least 215 mass shootings had been recorded across the United States in 2026, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

The archive reported at least six mass shootings nationwide on Saturday and at least two more by Sunday morning. A separate shooting occurred Sunday in downtown Pensacola, Florida, killing a 19-year-old man and wounding six others aged 16 to 26, local police said.