Surveillance video obtained by News 12 shows the moment a gunman opens fire on a man in the middle of a Brownsville street — a shooting that set off a deadly chain of events that left two men dead and an NYPD officer wounded early Monday.
The video, recorded around 5:34 a.m. outside an apartment building on Thomas S. Boyland Street, shows a man get out of a car and walk toward the front door of the building. Just as he reaches the entrance, another man steps out of the building and shoots him twice.
Police said officers responded to a 911 call for a person shot just before 6 a.m. and found 41-year-old Leroy Wallace with gunshot wounds outside the same building. He died at the scene.
A neighbor who knew Wallace said he was a friendly presence in the building.
“He was the sweetest person. You will never see him and not see him with his brother. He would always wave and say, 'Hey, how are you?'”
About two hours later, a second man was killed inside the building. Police have not yet publicly identified him, but Dashawna Larode says the man shot by officers was her 25-year-old brother, Dashawn Larode.
“I saw the entire SWAT team. They were surrounding my building. Me just waking up I was definitely confused and literally I walked out to see when my brother was doing his last words was like, ‘DaShawna just put your hands up!’”
Police said an officer went inside the building as part of the investigation into Wallace’s death when a man opened his apartment door and shot the officer in the face with a shotgun. The officer returned fire, killing the man, according to investigators.
Dashawna says her brother was an Army veteran and that she has no idea why anyone would have a problem with him.
“He was a great person with a genuine heart and yeah, I think that he was definitely in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Police identified the wounded officer as 25-year-old Sharjeel Warris. He was released from the hospital earlier Monday and is expected to make a full recovery.
Investigators have not confirmed the identity of the man shot by officers. The superintendent of the building told News 12 the suspect’s weapon remains inside the apartment as detectives continue to process the scene.