Man, 57, wounded in double shooting on Brooklyn streetcorner was innocent bystander
One of two men shot and wounded on a Brooklyn streetcorner was a bystander who had just gotten off a bus when the other victim provoked the gunman by throwing something a him, police sources said Tuesday.
The victims were shot near Rutland Road and Rockaway Parkway in East Flatbush just before 6 p.m. on Monday, cops said. The 32-year-old intended target was shot in the stomach while the 57-year-old bystander was blasted in the left leg.
Detectives are investigating the theory the gunman opened fire after the younger victim chucked something, possibly a bottle, at him, a police source said.
The older victim just got off a bus and happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, the source said.
Both victims were rushed to Kings County Hospital and are expected to recover.
The gunman ran off and has not been caught.
Meanwhile, cops are continuing their hunt for the gunmen who shot smoke shop owner Nelson Ortiz to death outside a Canarsie deli at 4 p.m. on Monday — about two hours before the East Flatbush shooting.
Cops believe Ortiz was shot by two gunmen, one wearing a yellow sweater and the other sporting a blue hoodie, a police source said. Multiple shell casings were recovered by cops at the scene.
Police responding to a 911 call found Ortiz, 24, badly wounded in the doorway of the deli near Avenue L and E. 95th St.
Ortiz lived in Canarsie about a block from where he was killed. It was not immediately clear why he was targeted.
“I don’t know who would do this,” his brother Patrick Ortiz told the Daily News. “He doesn’t gangbang. He doesn’t drink or smoke, even though he owns a smoke shop.”
Ortiz was hit while coming out of the deli after getting a sandwich, his grieving brother said.
“He went to get a bacon, egg and cheese, his usual,” Patrick Ortiz said.
Police sources said Ortiz was arrested twice in Canarsie last year, once for drug possession and another time for selling untaxed cigarettes.
