Add The New York Post on Google Two suspected gunmen are facing 88 charges for shooting up a July 4th barbecue on Coney Island — injuring eight people, including four children, and killing a puppy, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Robert Smith and Kevin Blunt, both 44, were indicted this month on the slew of charges, including attempted murder and assault, over the cowardly carnage that turned a family celebration into a nightmare.
“These defendants are allegedly responsible for unleashing a barrage of gunfire into a courtyard packed with families celebrating the Fourth of July,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement.
“The fact that no person was killed is extraordinary, but it does not diminish the alleged recklessness and brutality of this attack,” Gonzalez added.
Blunt was formally arraigned on the indictment on August 3; Smith was arraigned on Wednesday.
When Smith’s gun appeared to jam after he attempted to fire into the barbecue, Blunt allegedly helped clear it, allowing Smith to fire approximately 15 shots into the crowd, prosecutors said.
Eight family members sustained gunshot wounds, including four minors — boys aged six, seven, 12, and 14 — and four adults, aged 21, 25, 33, and 37.
All victims were transported to local hospitals.
The 21-year-old woman was initially reported in critical condition, while the other seven victims were stabilized.
The six-year-old boy’s 10-week-old puppy, named Sky, died after being shot in the head.
The day before Smith was rounded up by the US Marshal’s Regional Fugitive Task Force on July 8, grandmother Carlene Pearsall made a desperate plea to Mayor Zohran Mamdani for justice at a vigil for the victims.
“They shot our babies,” Pearsall sobbed.
“This is senseless. Our kids did not deserve that. My son is laying in a hospital bed saying, ‘Mom, what did I do to deserve this?’ Son, you did absolutely nothing… It has to stop.”
Law enforcement sources previously noted the shooting may have been gang-related.
