Masked Gunman Opens Fire on Coney Island July 4 Barbecue, Wounding 8 Including 4 Children

A masked gunman opened fire on a Fourth of July family barbecue in Brooklyn's Coney Island late Saturday, wounding eight people — four of them children — in one of the worst bursts of holiday gun violence to strike New York City in years. The shooting erupted around 10:35 p.m. near the intersection of West 30th Street and Surf Avenue, just blocks from the boardwalk, as families gathered to mark the nation's 250th Independence Day.

According to the New York Police Department, an unidentified man dressed entirely in black and wearing a black ski mask walked up to the fence line along Surf Avenue, fired multiple rounds into a courtyard where the barbecue was underway, and then fled on foot. Investigators recovered a TEC-9-style firearm fitted with an extended magazine at the scene, along with 10 spent shell casings. No one had been arrested as of Sunday, and police said they were searching for the shooter.

The four wounded children were 6, 7, 12 and 14 years old, police said. A 6-year-old boy was shot in the stomach, a 7-year-old boy was struck in both legs, a 12-year-old boy was hit in the leg and a 14-year-old boy was wounded in the thigh. A 21-year-old woman remained in critical condition on Sunday morning, while the seven other victims were expected to survive. All were taken to area hospitals in the minutes after the gunfire.

Police said there was no indication of any argument or altercation at the barbecue before the shooting, and detectives were investigating whether the attack was linked to a local dispute or gang activity. The randomness of the assault — a masked figure firing into a crowd of relatives and children — rattled a neighborhood that draws tens of thousands of visitors to its beaches and amusement parks each summer.

The Coney Island attack was the bloodiest of several shootings that marred the July 4 holiday across New York City, where officials tallied roughly a dozen people struck by gunfire over the celebrations. Mass shootings have historically spiked around the Independence Day weekend nationwide, straining police departments already stretched by parades, fireworks displays and record crowds. Investigators appealed to the public for tips and surveillance footage that might help identify the gunman, who remained at large.