In the bright afternoon light of a Brooklyn day, 21-year-old Pierrot Simeon rode a CitiBike, a simple errand to a local bodega on his mind. It was approximately 2:20 p.m. on July 14, 2021, when he stopped outside a store at the corner of Clarkson Avenue and East 53rd Street in East Flatbush, just a block from his home. His family later shared he had only stepped out to buy a drink.
What happened next, captured in the cold, unblinking eye of a surveillance camera, was a sudden and brutal act of violence that ended a young life.
As Simeon paused, another young man was seen nearby, talking on his phone. In a swift, shocking turn of events, this individual, dressed in a gray T-shirt, gray and white basketball shorts, and a durag, ended his call, pulled a handgun from a bag, and opened fire on Simeon at point-blank range. Witnesses and video footage recounted a brief, tense stare-down between the two before the shots rang out. Simeon was struck multiple times in his torso, shoulder, and leg. He was rushed to Kings County Hospital, but the grievous wounds proved fatal, and he was pronounced dead.
In the aftermath, a portrait of Pierrot Simeon emerged that was filled with contradictions. His grieving family described him as a respectful, kind, and hardworking young man, employed as a cashier at Walgreens. However, police sources suggested a different narrative, believing the execution-style killing was gang-related. They indicated that Simeon's own social media identified him as a member of the Crips gang. This possibility cast a shadow of unanswered questions over the brazen daylight attack.
Despite the clarity of the surveillance footage, which the New York Police Department released to the public in an appeal for information, the suspect has never been officially identified, and no arrests have been made in the case. The young man who ended Pierrot Simeon's life seemingly vanished after fleeing the scene. The investigation into the murder remains ongoing, leaving a family to mourn and a community to grapple with the persistent threat of sudden violence on their streets.
