2 shot to death at carnival before NY West Indian Day Parade

Over the past 20 years, the NYPD handled 21 shootings or homicides at J’Ouvert, which now attracts an estimated 250,000 to central Brooklyn to celebrate Caribbean culture in elaborate costumes.

Police say he is suspected in the death of a 22-year-old woman who was shot in the head.

J’Ouvert might be going away.

The hopes for a West Indian carnival free of deadly violence were shattered this morning when two innocent people were shot and killed during the early hours of the J’ouvert celebrations in Brooklyn.

The annual West Indian American Day Parade is one of New York City’s most vibrant and popular events.

“We have in our community a violence problem, not a J’Ouvert problem”, Parker said.

“I’m sure people are not paying attention on days when there’s no J’ouvert”, said Williams, the son of Grenadian immigrants and the representative for the predominantly Caribbean 45thCouncil District in Brooklyn.

Police are investigating whether the shootings are related.

Police sources are quoted as saying she was shot at close range above her right eye while at Franklin Avenue and Empire Boulevard where she was enjoying the overnight celebration with three friends around 4.15 a.m. Borel was shot in the chest. Both events were far more rowdy in years past than their current incarnation.

Organizers say the early morning festivities that led to what is now J’ouvert started in the 1980s.

Labour Day celebrations in NY turned deadly for one Trinidadian family yesterday.

“We never accept violence in our midst. Violence surrenders to us”, he said.

St. Clair said police informed her that Borel had been sitting on a bench alone when he was shot, the paper reported, adding that he was not believed to have been the shooter’s target. “This celebration of cultural heritage, on a day fought so hard for by our brothers and sisters in the labor movement, has unfortunately become synonymous with gun violence”, Mosley said.

“Should we have martial law?” he asked.

“Though J’ouvert ultimately took my brother’s life, he loved the event”.

An inquiry to Assemblywoman Diana Richardson on the issue was not immediately returned Tuesday.

Davis also wanted it noted that violence is a systematic disease in America, particularly in inner city communities. “If it can’t be safe for everyone, you can’t continue it”, said former city Comptroller Bill Thompson, a Brooklyn native whose grandparents were from St. Kitts. “My thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of the victims of this awful events”, he added.