Fams mourn shootout vics as beep urges action on mass killings

With candles, prayers, and four pairs of dress shoes — a pair for each victim — mourners and activists held a vigil Monday night for the victims of a horrific shooting in a Brooklyn gambling den.

About 50 people showed up for the vigil outside the Triple A Aces club on Utica Ave. near Dean St. in Crown Heights, where relatives John Thomas, 32, remembered him as a kindhearted father of four.

“He was just hanging out with friends,” said Kita Lilly, 33, a cousin of Thomas, who died in the Saturday morning massacre.

“He was a kind man. He had a heart of gold. He was the father of four kids, all girls,” she said. Thomas worked as a welder, she said.

“He let things go. He was easygoing. His mother was the queen of his life,” said another cousin, Shayna Tyler, 33. “He was her only son. She was his best friend.”

Tyler said that her family is still recovering from the death of Thomas’ grandmother in 2015. “Our whole family is lost,’ she said.

The violence erupted when one of the gamblers, Chester Goode, 37, became enraged over a dice game and started shooting, police sources said. A bouncer at the club, Dominick Wimbush, 47, shot Goode dead, but was mortally wounded in the barrage, sources said.

The gunfire also killed Terence Bishop, 36, and wounded three others.

The vigil began at the corner of Utica Ave. and Pacific St. The crowd then walked up to the police tape near the shooting scene, and placed the four pairs of leather shoes on the sidewalk. A memorial candle was placed between each pair of shoes.

Adams called the incident a mass shooting, and said that because it happened in a black neighborhood, it hasn’t gotten enough public attention.

“We are not going to normalize violence. We are not going to allow a mass shooting to happen in our community and flip over the pages and act like it didn’t happen,” Adams said.

“This has destroyed our community. We are outraged. The country continues to be dismissive over mass shootings in communities of color. This is a mass shooting.”

Adams also mentioned the July 27 gun battle at a Brownsville block party that left one man dead and 11 others wounded. He said that incident should have been labeled a mass shooting.

“How many people must be shot in communities of color before we identify an overproliferation of guns?” Adams asked.