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Teen Tysha Jones' Death Sparked by Fight on Brighton Beach

By Tom Liddy | June 11, 2011 11:18am | Updated on June 12, 2011 9:49am

By Tom Liddy

DNAinfo News Editor

HARLEM - The spray of gunfire that left tragic Harlem teen Tysha Jones dead and a Manhattan man critically wounded Thursday was sparked by an earlier brawl on Brighton Beach, according to published reports.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said that the fusillade, which wounded four others, including one critically, aside from Jones, stemmed from an incident in which one youth was hit with a bottle and another an umbrella, according to the New York Post.

One of those young men then walked up to the boardwalk where he joined Jones, 16, and two other friends, the paper said.

That's when two teens strode up from the beach and opened fire, according to the Daily News

Tysha Jones (in blue at left) and Cheyenne Baez (in blue at right) dancing together as part of Harlem's Angels in 2004 at an All Stars Talent Show.
Tysha Jones (in blue at left) and Cheyenne Baez (in blue at right) dancing together as part of Harlem's Angels in 2004 at an All Stars Talent Show.
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Courtesy of the All Star Project

"They had come up from the beach onto the boardwalk," Browne said. "We believe they're accomplices, together in the decision to shoot."

According to the paper, the suspects, who have not been caught, have gang ties, but the violence was not gang-related.

The intended target, The News said, was the man who was hit with the bottle.  

But The Post said the target of the shooting on the sweltering late spring day, when school was out, was unclear.

Browne said that Jones, who was hit in her torso, and a patron at the nearby Tatiana Restaurant, were likely not the targets of the shooting, which wounded four others, according to the paper.

One of the victims, Wayne Gibbons, who was hit in the stomach, said that he was hanging out with friends, listening to music when shots rang out.

"It came out of nowhere," he said, according to The News.

"It was just a group of guys and girls going to the beach on a lovely day who ended up being at the wrong place at the wrong time."

One of the victims, Calvin Berkley, 23, of Manhattan, was in critical condition at Coney Island Hospital, the paper said.

In a tragic twist, Jones, a Landmark HS sophomore, was pals with Cheyenne Baez, another Harlem teen who was killed last October in a drive-by shooting.

Tysha Jones' friend Tamela holds a picture of them together.
Tysha Jones' friend Tamela holds a picture of them together.
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DNAinfo/Jeff Mays

No one is in custody, police said.