16-yr-old Student Who Was Shot in Head and Died in SOHO Was Trying to Act as a Peacemaker
Two suspects were reportedly scene fleeting on a Citibike, with one pedaling while another sat in the basket in front. Police are still searching for the shooter.
The quiet of Urbana Plaza in SOHO was shattered on May 7 when a 16-year-old high school student who police said was trying to act as a peacemaker between two groups was shot and killed.
The victim has been identified as Mahki Brown, from 60 E. 93rd St. in Brooklyn. He was reportedly a student at nearby Broome St. Academy Charter School a short distance away.
According to reports, he had just left the school and was hanging out in the public courtyard adjacent to the upscale Dominick Hotel between Spring and Dominick Streets in SOHO when he and several others tried to break up a dispute between two groups of girls.
“If he sees situations that’s not the right thing, he’ll intervene and try to break fights up,” Jessica Jenkins, the teen’s basketball coach told the Daily News. “His heart is going to help out.”
He was said to love playing basketball and spent over an hour commuting to the school from his home in East Flatbush.
Brown was shot in the head and the right thigh and despite frantic efforts to save him, he was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital a short time after the incident that happened around 2:30 p.m.
Two suspects in ski masks were seen fleeing the scene on a single Citibike.
Police ask anyone with information regarding the incident to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, or on X (formerly Twitter) @NYPDTips.