On a cold January morning in 2018, the life of 33-year-old Esley Porteous was tragically cut short in a brazen shooting in the East New York section of Brooklyn. The incident occurred on Saturday, January 27, at approximately 8:40 a.m. as Porteous sat in the passenger seat of a parked SUV. A male suspect, cloaked entirely in black, approached the vehicle and opened fire, striking Porteous multiple times in the torso before fleeing the scene.
Police responded to a call of an assault in front of the Breukelen Houses on East 108th Street, where they discovered the grim scene. Emergency medical services arrived shortly after, but Porteous's injuries were too severe, and he was pronounced dead at the location. The shooting happened just a block away from Porteous's home, also in the Breukelen Houses.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the New York Police Department launched an investigation into the homicide. Authorities began a search for the gunman, who was still at large, and sought to recover surveillance footage from the area that might have captured the murder. As of early reports following the incident, no arrests had been made in connection with the shooting of Esley Porteous, and the investigation was ongoing.
