In the early morning hours of October 12, 2019, a burst of gunfire shattered the quiet inside an illegal gambling club in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, leaving 32-year-old John Thomas and three other men dead. The scene at the establishment, located at 74 Utica Avenue, was described by police as chaotic, with evidence of gambling, such as cards and dice, strewn about.
Initial investigations by the New York Police Department suggested the violence erupted from a dispute
within the club. It was suspected that one of the patrons, Chester Goode, aged 37, believed he was being cheated and opened fire. In the ensuing mayhem, Goode allegedly shot and killed John Thomas and another man, 36-year-old Terence Bishop. The club's bouncer, 47-year-old Dominick Wimbush, is believed to have returned fire, fatally shooting Goode before succumbing to his own injuries. Two firearms were recovered at the scene. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, no arrests were made as police worked to piece together the sequence of events.
A few months later, in December 2019, the NYPD announced a significant gang takedown, arresting ten members of the 'Brick Squad,' a subset of the Bloods gang. These individuals were charged in a wide-ranging 48-count conspiracy indictment that included allegations of two murders and seven shootings. Some online sources connected these arrests to the ongoing investigation into the death of John Thomas III and the broader pattern of violence in the community. The 'Brick Squad' was known to operate in various Brooklyn neighborhoods, including Bedford-Stuyvesant and Brownsville.
Despite the gang takedown, the definitive narrative from law enforcement regarding the direct cause of the shooting that claimed John Thomas's life pointed towards the internal conflict within the gambling den. The theory that Chester Goode initiated the violence after feeling he was cheated, leading to a deadly exchange with Dominick Wimbush, with John Thomas and Terence Bishop tragically caught in the crossfire, remains the prominent account of the incident. This explanation suggests the primary suspects in the deaths of John Thomas and Terence Bishop were also among the deceased. There have been no subsequent reports of charges being filed against any surviving individuals specifically for the murders that occurred inside the club on that tragic morning.
