Slain at Airbnb party
A 24-year-old man was shot dead through the window of a Brooklyn Airbnb early Sunday — while he was inside attending a party, cops said.
Shamel “Pancho” Harris was standing in the kitchen of the East New York apartment with several people when a gunman standing outside shot him multiple times through the window about 12:50 a.m., police said.
Harris died by the time medics arrived at the two-story brick home on Montauk Ave. near New Lots Ave.
Police sources said Harris had gang ties and had been arrested 20 times. His brother, who gathered with mourners outside Harris’ Bedford-Stuyvesant home Sunday, was too distraught to speak to a reporter.
“He was a wonderful person,” friend Keisha Nicole told the Daily News.
“He was always filled with joy and energy, and he always made everyone laugh and happy. He didn’t deserve to die. My heart is sad that his family lost him so soon, and I pray for them as well. Gun violence in New York is out of control, and I don’t think people understand how one act of violence can alter the lives of many forever.”
One neighbor of the Airbnb building who declined to give his name said parties in the house were frequent and that he saw dozens of young women going in the hours before the shooting.
“They do it all the time,” he said of the party. “I stayed inside and kept my windows closed.”
There were no immediate arrests.
Airbnb bans parties.
“We are outraged by the irresponsible behavior that reportedly prompted this criminal violence,” an Airbnb spokesman said. “We have removed this booking guest from our community while we investigate this incident and stand ready to support NYPD in their investigation.”
An elderly woman who lives next door to the crime scene says shootings in the area have long worried her.
“One time they’re gonna miss, and it’s gonna ricochet and it’s gonna hit one of us,” she said, declining to give her name.