Brooklyn woman, 71, and man, 61, wounded by gunfire during party in Brownsville park

A 71-year-old woman and 61-year-old man were wounded by gunfire during a party in a park in Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood, which has seen its homicide rate triple this year, police said Sunday.

The victims were shot in Livonia Park near Livonia Ave. and Powell St. about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, police said. An NYPD spokesman couldn’t say if they were the intended targets.

Neighbors said the victims were attending a family gathering and barbecue at the park.

“There was music. Everyone was enjoying themselves,” said Keith, a 60-year-old neighbor who passed through the park a couple of hours before the shooting. “People were spread out, people were chatting, having a good time. … It’s a quiet park. It’s a decent park. For that to happen to elderly people — it sounds like a random rivalry.

“It’s sad that happened,” Keith added. “It’s the first time in this park that I’ve heard of a shooting.”

The victims were shot in Livonia Park near Livonia Ave. and Powell St. about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, police said.

The woman was hit once in her right leg and twice in her torso, while a bullet struck the man in his left leg.

Medics took both to Brookdale University Hospital in stable condition.

Cops have made no arrests.

“It’s a tough time right now. They might’ve got caught up in something,” said one neighbor, who lives in a nearby building but didn’t give his name. “Who’s gonna shoot no 70 year olds?”

Brownsville has seen 13 homicides this year through June 9, compared to four by the same time last year.

Shootings are up 81%, with 29 incidents so far this year compared to 16 in the same time period last year, according to NYPD statistics.

As of last Sunday, there have been 57 homicides in Brooklyn spread over 23 precincts. At least 13 of those have taken place in the 73rd Precinct, according to data. The troubled precinct covers just two Brooklyn neighborhoods — Brownsville and Ocean Hill.

During the same period, there were 152 murders citywide, which is a nearly 14% decrease from the same time in 2023.

Earlier this month in Brownsville, 15-year-old Jasai Guy was killed when his 12-year-old cousin shot him with an illegal, sawed-off shotgun in the older boy’s apartment inside the Howard Houses on Osborn St. near Pitkin Ave..

Jasai’s cousin told responding cops he was trying to take the gun away from the teen when it went off, but was ultimately charged in the death, the Daily News previously reported.

The day after Jasai was killed, 9-year-old Ruanna Paris Brown and her cousin 11-year-old Empress Alexander Davis were hit by stray gunfire as they played at Hilltop Playground on Dean St. near Thomas S. Boyland St.

Ruanna’s mother was sitting on a bench nearby when her daughter was shot in the knee and Empress was hit in the shoulder. Both girls survived the shooting.

Police are still searching for those involved.