Police said the killing happened before dawn Sunday at a venue on Alabama Avenue near Stanley Avenue.
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A 24-year-old Brooklyn man was shot and killed inside a club in East New York early Sunday, police said, in the latest burst of gun violence tied to city nightlife over the weekend.
Officers were called just after 4:10 a.m. to 824 Alabama Ave., near Stanley Avenue, where they found Jayden Smith with a gunshot wound to the torso, authorities said. EMS took Smith to Brookdale Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The shooting drew new attention because it came during a weekend that also included other gunfire at bars and late-night gathering spots in Brooklyn and the Bronx. By Tuesday, police had not announced an arrest, named a suspect or explained what led to the shooting.
Police said officers arrived after a 911 call reporting gunfire inside the building, a location neighbors and local reports described as a nightlife venue. Smith, whose address linked him to Canarsie, had been at the gathering when shots rang out, according to police accounts carried by several local outlets. Investigators have not said whether Smith was the intended target, whether there was an argument before the shooting or how many shots were fired. News video from outside the building showed shoes, bags and other belongings left behind on the ground after people rushed out. Two other people were taken to a hospital with injuries suffered while trying to flee, but officials said they were not shot.
The scene unfolded at an hour when much of the surrounding industrial stretch of East New York was otherwise quiet. The building sits near the line between East New York and Canarsie, an area where warehouses, auto businesses and event spaces sit close to homes and neighborhood streets. Police have said little publicly beyond the basic timeline, and that lack of detail has left key questions unanswered. Investigators have not said whether the gunman entered with a weapon or whether the shooting started inside the crowd and moved toward an exit. They also have not released surveillance details, a suspect description or any information about a car used to leave the area. For now, the known facts remain narrow: a man arrived at a party, shots were fired shortly after 4 a.m., panic followed and one person died.
The killing also landed against a mixed public-safety backdrop in New York City. The NYPD said in January that 2025 had been the city’s “safest year ever for gun violence,” pointing to a steep annual drop in shooting incidents. But the department’s most recent CompStat report for the week ending March 15 showed one murder in the 75th Precinct, which covers East New York, and city officials have continued to describe gun violence as highly concentrated in a limited set of neighborhoods. East New York has long been part of that discussion. City and independent reports over several years have repeatedly cited the neighborhood as one of the places where shootings remain stubborn even as citywide totals fall. That context helps explain why a single pre-dawn shooting at a club can quickly become a broader test of whether recent gains are holding in the areas most affected by gun violence.
As of Tuesday, no charges had been announced in Smith’s death. Police had not said whether detectives were questioning anyone, serving warrants or reviewing security footage from inside the venue. They also had not said whether state liquor or building officials would examine the site’s operating status, an issue that sometimes follows shootings at after-hours spaces. The next formal steps are likely to come through the routine path of a homicide investigation: ballistics work, video review, witness interviews and, if detectives identify a suspect, an arrest and arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court. Until then, the case remains open, and the absence of a public account from investigators has left family members, neighbors and others who were at the venue waiting for a clearer explanation of what happened in the final minutes before Smith was shot.
Outside the building after sunrise, the signs of the sudden scramble were still visible. Items dropped in the rush out the door remained scattered near the entrance and along the sidewalk. Neighbors told local television crews the property had been used for music events, though authorities had not publicly confirmed what kind of gathering was underway when the shots were fired. One witness account described the crowd bolting for the exits as soon as the shooting started. Smith’s sister told a local newspaper that “he was very loved,” and said he was not involved in street activity. That brief remark did not answer the central question in the case, but it added a personal note to a homicide investigation that, for now, is defined mostly by missing pieces.
Police said the investigation was continuing Tuesday, with no arrest announced and no public description of a shooter. The next major milestone is likely to be any police update on a suspect, surveillance evidence or charges in Brooklyn Criminal Court.
Author note: Last updated March 17, 2026.