Fatal Brooklyn lounge shooting reignites NYC mayoral candidate clash over gun violence response

BROOKLYN, NY -- Zohran Mamdani told reporters on Sunday that the fatal shooting in New York City hours earlier was the latest example of the "scourge of gun violence" in the country's most populous city.

New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch confirmed that there were 12 victims, including three fatalities, in a suspected gang-related shooting at the Taste of the City Lounge in the borough's Crown Heights section. 

During a canvass launch event in the Prospect Park neighborhood, Mamdani told reporters that the incident is "yet another example of the scourge of gun violence that has taken hold across so much of our city."

The New York City Democratic mayoral nominee noted that just three weeks ago, the city experienced its deadliest mass shooting in 25 years when a gunman killed four people in Midtown Manhattan before taking his own life. 

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Mamdani called for investing "in the very kind of programs and services that have been proven effective at combating this epidemic" of gun violence, specifically scaling up what he referred to as New York's crisis management system.

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The mayoral hopeful said on Sunday that he is proposing 275% increased investment in the Department of Community Safety. 

Last month's Manhattan shooting propelled Mamdani's past comments, including those calling to defund the NYPD, to center stage in the race for Gracie Mansion. 

"My statements in 2020 were ones made amidst a frustration that many New Yorkers held at the murder of George Floyd," Mamdani responded last month when a reporter asked if he regretted any of his prior comments. 

Mamdani has since walked back his stance on defunding police, but his competitors, including former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, seized on such comments, telling CNN that Mamdani doesn't understand the "importance of NYPD."

As details emerged on Sunday about the fatal shooting in Brooklyn, incumbent mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent, claimed his administration has driven down crime by removing illegal guns from the streets. 

"What I can tell you, we will continue our aggressive pursuit to remove these illegal guns off our streets. Every single victim of violence, particularly gun violence, is one too many," he said. 

In a statement on X, Cuomo called the incident "another horrific mass shooting."

"My heart goes out to the victims and to their loved ones. Public safety is, and always has been, Job 1. This isn't the time to defund or dismantle the police. We need more officers, not less, to keep our communities safe," Cuomo said, in an apparent political jab at Mamdani and his past comments. 

Meanwhile, the Republican mayoral nominee, Curtis Sliwa, CEO of the Guardian Angels, said his "thoughts are with the victims and their families after this latest shooting."

"Cuomo's pro-criminal laws created this mess, and Mamdani's radical agenda would only make it worse. The status quo has failed. I'm the only candidate with the courage to restore law and order in NYC," Sliwa said in a statement on X. 

Fox News' CB Cotton contributed to this report.