NYPD searching for suspects in brazen Coney Island shootout

The NYPD is searching for eight suspects who were involved in a shootout around 5:30 p.m. in Coney Island on Sunday. 

The two groups, each with four people, approached each other on Mermaid Avenue in Brooklyn and fired about 36 shots. At least five of the individuals brandished firearms.

No one was struck by the gunfire, but the NYPD is searching for the suspects on attempted assault charges. 

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul addressed the shooting Wednesday and pledged to crack down on violence in the city. 

“We’re not stopping,” Hochul told Fox 5 New York on Wednesday. “We are going to be working tirelessly to work with law enforcement, our mayors to get the guns off the street.  That is job number one for us: to protect New Yorkers.”

CURTIS SLIWA: NEW YORK CAN EXPECT ‘SOUTHERN EXODUS’ IF CITY CAN’T STOP CRIME SURGE

Overall crime is up 38.4% in New York City this year, driven mainly by a 53.2% surge in car thefts, a 50.8% jump in grand larceny, and a 39.3% increase in robberies. 

Despite that, murders are down 9% and shooting incidents are down 10% so far this year compared to the same time period in 2021. 

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New York City’s murder rate plummeted in 2017 and 2018 with fewer than 300 homicides each year, but murders have surged recently as the city saw 488 murders in 2021.

While crime has picked up recently, it’s low compared to the violent crime rates from a few decades ago, as the city saw 2,262 murders in 1990.