Fort Greene City Council Member Laurie A. Cumbo, today, joined citywide elected officials, families, residents, NYPD, and community organizations gathered at the Raymond V. Ingersoll Houses on Monday to make a public appeal for community cooperation to aid in the apprehension of the perpetrator(s) involved in a triple homicide at the NYCHA development.
Early Sunday morning, 43-year-old Calvin Clinkscales of Queens, 39-year-old Lacount Simmons, and 76-year-old Herbert Brown were allegedly shot by a gunman who opened fire for unknown reasons. Clinkscales and Simmons died at the scene. Brown was transported to New York Methodist Hospital where he was later pronounced dead. Simmons and Brown were both long-time residents of the Ingersoll Houses.
The heinous crime prompted an immediate response from local elected officials, families of the victims, and community residents calling for the public to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS with any tips that could lead to an arrest.
“Our community is grappling with the epidemic of gun violence that continues to take the lives of our mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, youth and elderly before their time. Our voices must be heard loud and clear – we will not tolerate violence because it has no place in our housing developments, this district, the borough of Brooklyn, or the City of New York. We cannot go back, we will not go back and we are going to move forward to keep our community safe,” said Cumbo.
“My thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of those who lost their lives this weekend to senseless violence. We are facing a gun crisis in this City, and we need to come together and take action. We must invest in additional resources and opportunities for young people to tackle the social ills that underscore so much of this violence,” said New York City Public Advocate Letitia James.
“My heart goes out to the families of those we lost this weekend to senseless violence. We are hearing the sound of gunfire all too often in our City. Every death by a gun is preventable, every life is worthwhile. Standing united, we can end the violence and prevent more terrible tragedies,” said New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer.
“Brooklyn’s thoughts and prayers are with the families of all victims of gang and gun violence this past weekend, including the entire Ingersoll Houses community. I urge anyone with information on these horrific, cowardly attacks to help the NYPD bring them to justice. We must empower our community to do their piece in combating gang and gun violence, supporting them with the resources and knowledge to address the core issues that have long posed a threat to public safety,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.
“This past, weekend saw seven tragic, gun related deaths throughout our city, including the 3 senseless homicides near the Ingersoll Community Center. Gang culture and ready access to guns fuel these shootings and must be addressed, but I join with my fellow elected officials and tenant leaders in addressing the underlying fuse which continues to burn: the lack of resources for our police to intervene and the continuing blind eye turned towards the education and lack of job opportunities for the communities in our housing developments. We can and will address these issues, together,” said Senator Velmanette Montgomery.
“I am shocked and saddened by the gun violence over this pass weekend at the Ingersoll public housing complex. Coming just three weeks after the tragic shooting death of Governor Cuomo’s deputy counsel Carey Gabay, our community is faced yet again with the loss of life to a senseless act of violence. I pray that the three victim’s families may find comfort in this most grievous hour and that we, as a community, may come together to address the root cause of these acts and prevent another family suffering from gun violence,” said Assembly Member Walter T. Mosley.
Several of the lawmakers noted that Ingersoll is a pocket of extreme poverty in a neighborhood that straddles downtown Brooklyn and Fort Greene – both neighborhoods awash in new luxury residential construction.
As such, they advocated that more needs to be done to get Ingersoll and the neighboring NYCHA developments more of the construction and ancillary jobs, as well as more police and other services afforded the surrounding community.
