On the night of February 22, 2015, Alexander Manning, a 52-year-old man, was nearly home in the East Flatbush/Flatbush section of Brooklyn when the walk ended in violence. Police responded to East 52nd Street near Winthrop Street/Winthrop Avenue at about 10:48 p.m., finding him outside with multiple gunshot wounds; he was rushed to Kings County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Investigators said the shooting unfolded as a street robbery: four teenagers confronted him just before 11 p.m. and tried to take his valuables. When he refused to give in, one of the teens fired, fatally striking him. Neighbors later described the block filling with grief and anger, with posters bearing his face appearing along East 52nd Street as word spread that a Marine veteran had been killed steps from his own front door.
In the immediate aftermath, the case turned on the same chaotic seconds that took Manning’s life. Detectives told family members the group involved was made up of teenagers, and reporting at the time indicated that one teen was already in police custody because the gunfire that hit Manning also struck a suspected participant. Gothamist identified that teen as 16-year-old Michael Williams and reported he had a minor gunshot wound and was being held by police but had not yet been charged.
With no announcement of broader arrests in those initial reports, investigators looked to whatever the street itself might have captured. A camera positioned above a daycare across the street was described as a potential source of crucial footage, and police were said to be working to obtain it. A reward was also publicized—$2,000 for information that could lead to additional arrests—reflecting the belief that more than one person who took part in the attack had slipped away into the night.
