A 56-year-old man was shot multiple times in his right arm during an argument in the Sunset Park section of Brooklyn overnight, in a burst of gunfire that ended with a man being arrested at the scene. Police tape stretched across several parked cars along the street on Monday as investigators worked through the aftermath of the shooting on a residential block.
According to police, the violence broke out just after 10:15 p.m. Sunday in front of 5001 9th Avenue, where a verbal argument between two men escalated into gunfire. A neighbor who lives across the street said he was in his front room when the shots rang out, estimating that he heard about eight rounds before the block fell into chaos.
The wounded man was struck several times in his right arm and was taken to Maimonides Medical Center, where police say he is in stable condition. The neighbor who heard the gunfire said that at first he thought the sound was fireworks, only realizing moments later that it had been shots fired just outside his home.
Officers detained a man in a white shirt at the scene, and video posted to the Citizen app captured the moment he was taken into custody. Police identified him as 40-year-old Shaobin Zeng and said investigators believe he is the person responsible for the shooting on the Sunset Park street.
Shaobin Zeng has since been charged with assault, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the shooting. The arrest came quickly, with police making it right at the scene as they secured the block and began gathering evidence and speaking with witnesses in the neighborhood.
As of the investigation, police had not said what the two men were arguing about or what caused the dispute to turn so violent. Officers continued to look into the circumstances of the shooting, which left neighbors shaken and added to concerns about gun violence on the streets of the Brooklyn neighborhood.