{"id":319995,"date":"2026-08-13T01:54:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T01:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/319995\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T01:54:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T01:54:08","slug":"two-men-indicted-for-4th-of-july-mass-shooting-at-coney-island-family-cookout-da","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/319995\/","title":{"rendered":"Two men indicted for 4th of July mass shooting at Coney Island family cookout: DA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two suspected gunmen are facing 88 charges for shooting up a July 4th barbecue<\/a> on Coney Island \u2014 injuring eight people, including four children, and killing a puppy, prosecutors announced Wednesday. <\/p>\n

Robert Smith and Kevin Blunt, both 44, were indicted this month on the slew of charges, including attempted murder and assault, over the cowardly carnage that turned a family celebration into a nightmare. <\/p>\n

\u201cThese defendants are allegedly responsible for unleashing a barrage of gunfire into a courtyard packed with families celebrating the Fourth of July,\u201d Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that no person was killed is extraordinary, but it does not diminish the alleged recklessness and brutality of this attack,\u201d Gonzalez added. <\/p>\n

Police are seen at the scene where eight people were shot, including two children, on W30th Street at Surf Avenue in Brooklyn, NY, on July 4, 2026. (Christopher Sadowski for NY Post) Christopher Sadowski for NY Post<\/p>\n

Robert Smith is led out of the 60 precinct on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, in Brooklyn. Robert Mecea for New York Post<\/p>\n

Blunt was formally arraigned<\/a> on the indictment on August 3; Smith was arraigned on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

When Smith\u2019s gun appeared to jam after he attempted to fire into the barbecue, Blunt allegedly helped clear it, allowing Smith to fire approximately 15 shots into the crowd, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

Eight family members sustained gunshot wounds, including four minors \u2014 boys aged six, seven, 12, and 14 \u2014 and four adults, aged 21, 25, 33, and 37.\u00a0<\/p>\n

All victims were transported to local hospitals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 21-year-old woman was initially reported in critical condition, while the other seven victims were stabilized.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The six-year-old boy\u2019s 10-week-old puppy, named Sky, died after being shot in the head.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The day before Smith was rounded up by the US Marshal\u2019s Regional Fugitive Task Force on July 8, grandmother Carlene Pearsall made a desperate plea <\/a>to Mayor Zohran Mamdani for justice at a vigil for the victims.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The scene of a mass shooting on July 4 is pictured at 2930 W. 30th in Coney Island. (Lone Pine Press for NY Post) Lone Pine Press for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cThey shot our babies,\u201d Pearsall sobbed<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is senseless. Our kids did not deserve that. My son is laying in a hospital bed saying, \u2018Mom, what did I do to deserve this?\u2019 Son, you did absolutely nothing\u2026 It has to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Law enforcement sources previously noted the shooting may have been gang-related.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two suspected gunmen are facing 88 charges for shooting up a July 4th barbecue on Coney Island \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":319996,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[33453,119,40550,7459,57,9,56,63,65,64,58],"class_list":["post-319995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-america-250","tag-coney-island","tag-fourth-of-july","tag-mass-shootings","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}