In the evening hours of May 18, 2016, a burst of gunfire shattered the relative quiet on a street in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, sending people scrambling for cover. When the cacophony of roughly ten gunshots subsided, 21-year-old Dwayne Stephens was left lying face down on the pavement in front of 2911 Avenue D. He had sustained a fatal gunshot wound to his chest.
Emergency responders rushed to the scene near East 29th Street and Nostrand Avenue and transported Stephens to Kings
County Hospital, but his injury was too severe, and he was pronounced dead upon arrival. The hail of bullets also struck a 67-year-old man, an innocent bystander who was hit by a stray bullet in the torso outside a nearby laundromat on Nostrand Avenue; he suffered a flesh wound.
Surveillance footage from the area captured the chaotic moments of the shooting, showing people fleeing the scene. Witnesses reported seeing the assailant, or assailants, speeding away from the area in a black SUV, possibly a Porsche, with New York license plates. One account described a suspect wearing a black hoodie and black pants running toward Clarendon Road.
In the immediate aftermath, the New York Police Department launched an investigation into the shooting. Investigators explored the possibility that the incident was related to narcotics, and community members spoke of ongoing gang violence in the neighborhood. Despite these leads and the available evidence, no arrests have been publicly announced in connection with the murder of Dwayne Stephens. The case remains unresolved, leaving a void in the lives of his family and a lingering sense of injustice in the community.
