CROWN HEIGHTS — The staff member to Gov. Andrew Cuomo who was shot on Labor Day in Crown Heights has been declared brain dead after more than a week in the hospital, his family said Wednesday.
“We are saddened to announce that after an arduous week, Carey Gabay, our husband, son, brother, uncle and friend, has been declared brain dead as of late Tuesday,” a statement from the Gabay family read.
Gabay, 43, was shot in the head in front of the Ebbets Fields apartments on Bedford Avenue in Crown Heights in a gang-related shoot out during the pre-West Indian Day Parade festivity of J’Ouvert.
The Harvard-educated attorney was taken to Kings County Hospital in critical condition after the shooting. There, he fell into a coma last week, his family said.
Gabay's family said in their statement they have “difficult decisions” to face as they struggle “to process what this means for us.”
“Our family is grieving that a man in the prime of his life who has impacted so many lives could be struck down by such a callous act,” the statement read.
Gabay, who grew up in public housing in The Bronx, was working as an attorney for the Cuomo administration at the time of the shooting. In a statement, the governor asked New Yorkers to pray for the Gabays.
"Today we are all incredibly saddened by the news from Carey Gabay’s family. I ask that all New Yorkers please join me in keeping both Carey and his family in their thoughts and prayers during this difficult time,” the statement read.
Three suspects have been identified in the Labor Day shooting that wounded Gabay, though no arrests have been made. Police released a sketch and surveillance video of three men thought to be connected to the crime.
