http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/06/nyregion/jouvert-shootings-brooklyn.html 2016-09-05 15:45:47 2 Killed at J’ouvert Celebration in Brooklyn The predawn festivities, which precede the West Indian American Day Parade on Labor Day, again turned violent despite a large police presence. === Despite a huge police presence, hundreds of floodlights and pleas to refrain from the violence that has marred the celebration of West Indian American Day in Brooklyn, this year’s festivities, which began overnight, again turned deadly. Two people were shot and killed and at least two others were wounded in separate shootings near the eastern edge of Prospect Park, which was crammed with revelers at a predawn festival known as J’ouvert, according to police officials. The violence began about 3:50 a.m. when a young man, thought to be in his late teens or early 20s, was shot in the chest near the corner of Flatbush Avenue and Empire Boulevard. He was taken to Kings County Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead. During the same shooting, a 72-year-old woman was shot in the arm and was expected to survive. Not far away on Empire Boulevard and about a half-hour later, a 22-year-old woman was shot in the face during a dispute, police officials said. She was taken to Kings County Hospital Center, where she was pronounced dead. And around 6:50 a.m., an unidentified man was shot and wounded, near the corner of Clarkson Avenue and Rogers Avenue. Police officials did not have immediate word about his condition. Violence at the overnight festival has been a recurring problem. Last year, Carey Gabay, a lawyer who worked for the administration of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, In response, the Police Department Yvette Rennie, the president of J’ouvert City International, the group that was given the permit and organizes many of the events, walked along Empire Boulevard shortly before dawn and, when asked about the violence, said that she did not have time for an interview. The violence was a setback for an event that has been the lesser known cousin of the far larger West Indian American Day Parade, which is organized by a different group. People are drawn to a tradition they say they used to celebrate in their native Caribbean countries.