EAST FLATBUSH — Two fathers were killed and four other people injured during a gang-related drive-by shooting outside a funeral at a Brooklyn church Monday evening, sources said.
Mourners were outside Emmanuel Church of God at 1367 Flatbush Ave., near East 26th Street, which was holding a funeral for Jose Robles about 8:30 p.m., when a black SUV drove past and opened fire, sources said.
"It was a beautiful wake. It was crowded. It was packed inside and out. They said, 'Stand up for the viewing.' They were lining up and that was it," said witness Ryka El, 40.
"I heard 'Bong! Bong!' Maybe six shots, then a pause, then a barrage let loose. It was a lot. It just kept going like the 4th of July," he added.
The somber gathering erupted in pandemonium as the people in the SUV kept shooting and someone in the gathering returned fire at them, sources said.
"People were yelling, 'Get inside! Get inside!'" El said.
"Everybody started running, shooting. ... I heard about 50 shots. It was like a movie," Robles relative, Raul Marroqin.
"When they started shooting, I jumped on the floor with the kids. I ran to save my life and the life of the kids outside," he added.
It was not immediately clear what sparked the shooting.
Marroqin said the attackers had a dispute with a funeral attendee about a murder that happened 20 years ago, but wouldn't elaborate. An NYPD spokeswoman couldn't confirm his account.
Robles was a former gang member who died of a heart attack in his sleep on April 16 at the age of 38, according to sources and funeral leaflets. He also served about nine years behind bars for a November 1997 attempted murder, prison records show.
Sharieff Clayton, 40, of Baychester, was hit in the abdomen along with Ronald Murphy, 44, of Cypress Hills, who was hit in the chest, police said. Both were pronounced dead at Kings County Hospital, officials said.
"As soon as I walked out, Sharieff's son saw me and said, 'My father was shot!' Sharieff was face down," El said.
El watched as Clayton was loaded on a stretcher into a waiting ambulance.
"He was clenching his fists to say, 'I'm here. I'm O.K.,'" El said.
"My friend was giving Ronald chest compressions. Then Ronald sat up. My friend said, 'No, stay down! Don't move!' Ronald's eyes got big and rolled in his head. When he laid back down, that was it," he added.
Police found one of the men who attacked the mourners, a 40-year-old whose name was not immediately released, nearby at 637 E. 32nd St. with a gunshot to his torso, sources said.
He is in police custody but in critical condition at Kings County, sources said.
The other victims, whose names were not released, were in stable condition at area hospitals, officials said.
Two others were treated at Kings County Hospital including a 40-year-old man who was shot in the left hand and a 38-year-old woman who was hit in the left leg, officials said.
A 29-year-old woman was shot in the left leg and treated at Brookdale Hospital, police said.
Friends of the shooting victims visited the funeral home Tuesday morning, mourning the murders of Murphy and Clayton, both fathers of four.
Murphy had been a member of the Freemasons fraternal society and heavily involved in the community, friends said.
"We lost basically our president. He was a father, husband. He did a lot of work for the community. He was a pillar. He came out here to pay his respects to someone who lost their life and he lost his," said Irving Richiez, 39, a friend a funeral director.
"Death is nothing new to me. I'm immune to death, but when it hits home like this, there's no way you can be immune," Richiez said.
Murphy had also been longtime friends with Clayton, who served about 11 years in prison for manslaughter, but then became an advocate for at-risk youth after his release in 2007, according to friends and prison records.
"He loved his children, loved everyone around him. He was very motivated," El said.
"He was always that person who could make peace with other people," the friend added.
Under the pen name A.C. Clayton, he also wrote a book titled "Honor Amongst Thieves," about a young man's path through the Brooklyn underworld, friends said.
Clayton worked with alternative sentencing organization C.A.S.E.S., friends said. The organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Local politicians gathered at the shooting scene the next morning were outraged by the violence.
"For a shooting to take place at a funeral, that is a wake-up call for this entire city," said Borough President Eric Adams.
Others agreed.
"A funeral should not spawn additional funerals," said city Councilman Jumaane Williams.
"It's not normal. It's not acceptable. This community does not accept that."
With Aidan Gardiner
