NYPD detectives are searching for two people linked to a three-month-old homicide where a 30-year-old man was gunned down near the same Brooklyn corner where he shot a rival five years earlier, police said Saturday.
Investigators released images of the duo, a man and a woman, in the hopes that someone will recognize them.
The two are wanted for questioning in the death of Lamont Russell, who was shot multiple times in the chest during a clash on Osborn St. near Pitkin Ave. in Brownsville back on May 18.
The shooting took place just steps from NYCHA’s Howard Houses, around 11 p.m., police said. A 28-year-old man was also shot in the hand during the shooting.
Medics took both victims to Brookdale University Hospital, where Russell died. He lived in Bedford-Stuyvesant, according to cops.
“I heard around five gunshots — it was quick,” a 60-year-old witness told the Daily News at the time. “I come outside here and I see the blood splatter.”
Police on Saturday would not disclose a motive for the shooting. Cops recovered surveillance images of a man in a hooded sweatshirt running down a block near the shooting scene and a woman in a red vest in what appears to be one of the NYCHA apartment buildings.
Lamont Russell, 30, was shot and killed in May 2024. (Facebook)
It wasn’t immediately clear if the two being sought for questioning were witnesses or participants in the shooting. The gunman, police said, was seen running north toward the Howard Houses after the shooting.
Russell was arrested under the name Lamont Debose for attempted murder for a shooting that took place March 12, 2019 at the same corner where he was killed, said police. He was only found guilty of gun possession in that case.
According to a criminal complaint, Russell fired one round at Krishaun Rogers, striking the victim in the back as he ran away. Police also said Russell had stolen two cell phones from the man.
Russell was conditionally released in August after serving nearly three years in state prison for his conviction on gun possession, according to the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
Family remembered Russell as charming and outgoing.
“He was always very energetic. He was a charismatic people person,” said his nephew Rashad Jenkins, 32. “He was funny. He loved to make people laugh.”
The victim’s heartbroken girlfriend wrote that he was a “great man father brother son” on an online fundraiser.
“My man my partner my heart,” posted Tyisha Berry. “I want to send him off the right way like the KING he is.”
Anyone with information regarding the two sought for questioning is urged to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.