Brooklyn biker clubhouse drive-by shooting wounds four; all expected to survive
One person was shot in the head and three others were hit by bullets Friday in a wild drive-by shooting outside the home base of a Brooklyn outlaw motorcycle club, police sources and witnesses said.
The shooting sparked a tense half-hour standoff with police as members of the club, the Unknown Bikers, refused to let detectives into their clubhouse.
The victims were standing outside the clubhouse on Russell St. near Meserole Ave. in an industrial section of Greenpoint about 8:35 p.m. when a white sedan rolled down the block, witnesses told investigators.
Someone inside the auto pulled out a shotgun and started blasting away, hitting the four victims.
“I heard the shots,” said one neighbor, who wished not to be named. “When I got here two of the bikers were in the ambulance. They were being treated for being shot in their arms.”
The victims, all men who range in age from 24 to 41, were shot in the arms and back. One was shot in the head and another victim suffered a graze wound to the head, cops said.
Three of the victims were taken to Elmhurst Hospital. The man shot in the back was taken to Bellevue Hospital. All were expected to survive.
The neighbor, who is in his 40s, said that the Unknown Bikers throw a party at their clubhouse every Friday night.
“It’s early. Usually there can be about 100 bikes rolling through,” he said. “This could have been a lot worse.”
The Unknown Bikers is an outlaw motorcycle club founded in Williamsburg in 1974, according to the website onepercentbikers.com.
Investigators found five shotgun casings at the scene. Detectives tried to gain access to the clubhouse to interview potential witnesses, but bikers barred them from coming in for up to 30 minutes before they were finally allowed inside.
About a dozen motorcycles, mostly Harley Davidsons, were lined up outside the clubhouse after the shooting Friday night. Another six were parked around the corner.
Two dozen Unknown Bikers, sporting their colors, hung around outside the club as cops continued their investigation.
“We have absolutely nothing to say to you,” one member told a Daily News reporter at the scene.
No arrests had been made by late Friday.
