BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — A father of two young kids was fatally shot in the head and torso in front of his girlfriend on the street Tuesday evening, police said.
According to the NYPD, Lionell McLean, 29, was walking with his girlfriend about 7:20 p.m. when they ran into another couple outside 666 Hancock St., near Malcolm X Boulevard.
McLean started arguing with the other man, an NYPD spokesman said. The two women attacked each other and someone pulled out a gun and shot McLean, the spokesman said.
There were no immediate arrests, police said.
However, building superintendent Emerson White said security footage he had seen showed McLean and his girlfriend being followed into the building's entryway by two men.
The footage did not show what happened next, White said, but it did record the two men running off.
Another man, who would give his name only as Albert, said he was returning to the building from a local store when McLean and his girlfriend ran past, chased by two men. One of the men shot McLean, while the other hit his girlfriend, Albert said.
As the attackers ran off, the shooter passed a gun to his accomplice, and said, "get rid of this," Albert said.
"I heard the four gunshots," said building resident Malik Evans, who said he was upstairs at the time of the attack.
Evans said he came downstairs to find McLean lying face up with his girlfriend crouched over him. The girlfriend was trying to move him, and was pleading, "Baby, wake up. Baby, wake up," Evans said.
McLean, who lived in the neighborhood, was pronounced dead at Interfaith Medical Center, police said.
Mourners set up a small memorial where Lionell McLean was fatally shot. (DNAinfo/John Santore)
McLean, a FedEx deliveryman, was father to a 1-year-old boy and 7-year-old daughter, according to his sister, Lionette McLean, 27.
"He loved his kids. He was a good family man. He was a good person," the sister said.
Others agreed.
"He was a good kid," said his aunt, Sherell Carter.
"He was a very good friend," said Louis David, who said he and McLean grew up playing football and basketball together. "I could argue with him, and the next day we'll come together and it would be like nothing ever happened."
David said McLean was dedicated to his job and children.
"He was a young father and he had to make due," David said, emphasizing McLean's work ethic.
McLean distinguished himself as a promising athlete, but only trained sporadically, according to an instructor at a boxing gym McLean frequented.
"He had good talents," said the trainer, John Wesley Meekins, who works at Gym X at 59 Malcolm X Blvd.
Meekins would frequently tell him, "There's something for you in the future. Don't waste your young life."
"Poor young man, and there's a killer walking around loose. It's just a travesty," Meekins added.
