NYPD commissioner says 2 of dead in Brooklyn club shooting had opened fire

Among the three people killed in a Brooklyn club shooting that wounded 11 others over the weekend were two of the gunmen who had opened fire inside the establishment, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Monday.

One of the dead shooters, identified by Tisch as Jamel Childs, 35, was a reputed member of a street gang active in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn where the club, Taste of The City Lounge, is located.

"Mr. Childs has eight prior arrests and is listed in our criminal group database as a member of Folk Nation, a violent gang that terrorizes Brooklyn and is responsible for at least a half a dozen shootings so far this year," Tisch said.

The police commissioner identified the second gunman killed in the shooting early Sunday as Marvin St. Louis, 19, a Brooklyn resident with no known criminal record.

Police said a third man shot dead, Amadou Diallo, 27, of Manhattan, was an innocent bystander inside the club.

Initial police reports said 11 people were hit by gunfire, but that number increased later Sunday to 13, and on Monday to 14 after other victims turned themselves into the local hospitals with non-life-threatening wounds, according to Mayor Eric Adams.

Three of the wounded were also reputed Folk Nation gang members, noted Tisch.

Speaking at a news conference in Staten Island with Adams on the progress of the city’s quality of life initiative in that borough, Tisch described how video surveillance shows Childs and St. Louis speaking inside the club and then going their separate ways. A few minutes later St. Louis returns to where Childs is standing, pulls out a gun and begins firing, according to Tisch.

At least two other men being sought by police are suspected of opening fire, the commissioner said, adding that 42 empty cartridges were found at the scene. Additional surveillance videos depicted patrons fleeing the club, with some stumbling and apparently wounded. NYPD investigators were trying to determine the number of firearms used in the shootings.

They came just over two weeks after an apparently mentally disturbed gunman walked into a Manhattan office building with an AR-15 style rifle and killed three people, including NYPD Detective Didarul Islam, 37, who was working a special off-duty security detail in the lobby. The gunman, identified as Shane Tamura, of Las Vegas, then killed himself.

During Monday’s news conference, Adams reported that Islam’s wife had given birth over the weekend to a healthy baby boy. The couple had two other children.

The Brooklyn shooting was the 459th of 2025, compared to 572 in the same period a year ago, a decrease of about 19%. The victim total from the lounge shooting boosted the number of those hit by gunfire this year to 564, compared to 700 a year ago, according to police data.

During the Staten Island news conference, Tisch and Adams released the latest data for the Quality of Life Initiative in the borough through police "Q-Teams."

"Q-Teams handled more than 23,000 calls, towed more than 570 abandoned vehicles, seized more than 325 illegal scooters and bikes, " Tisch said. 

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.