WILLIAMSBURG — A street fight turned deadly when a Bronx man was shot twice, then managed to run a block and call for help before he collapsed and died, according to police.
The shooting erupted following an argument between three people, after they'd come out of a nearby building and one of them opened fire, hitting Jesus Pimentel, 22, in the chest and the leg just before 1:30 a.m. near the intersection of North 6th Street and Kent Avenue, police said.
"Two of the three individuals began to fight, a fisticuffs, back and forth, at which point we see our victim here start to run,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said at press briefing Tuesday at 1 Police Plaza, after reviewing security camera footage. “We then see a male [who pulls] a firearm and shoots him in the back.
“We’re trying to figure out why he was there and what exactly started the fight,” Boyce said.
Pimentel, whose most recently address was in The Bronx, managed to call 911 and run about a block before he collapsed on the street, according to police.
Emergency workers rushed the victim to Woodhull Hospital where he soon was declared dead.
The man's clothes and a lighter lay on the sidewalk where he fell, cordoned off by police Tuesday morning following the shooting.
The early morning death rattled neighbors and workers in the usually quiet, waterfront area, dotted with restaurants, cafés and luxury developments like the Edge and the Austin Nichols House.
"This is worse than the South side," said Waleska Layes, who grew up in South Williamsburg and has lived for six years in a new subsidized rental building on North 6th Street. "It's ridiculous."
Folks new to the neighborhood reacted to the news with disbelief.
"I always had the impression this was a very safe neighborhood," said Taylor Drew, a barista at Sweetleaf Coffee on the corner of Kent Avenue and North 6th Street. "I'm startled."
No arrests had been made as of Tuesday morning. Police said and an investigation is ongoing and they are looking for two men believed to be involved, though they haven't yet released a description of either one.
