The two men who got into a Monday night shootout at the Rugged Sole store on Utica Avenue—wounding a 12-year-old boy and a 33-year-old man—have been identified. The store's guard, Kenneth Meeks, 45, was arrested after the shooting and charged with assault, criminal possession of a weapon (firearm) and reckless endangerment while Gerald Spears, 23, turned himself in last night.
Spears is reportedly being questioned and hasn't been charged, but according to the store's owner, surveillance video apparently shows that Spears showed his gun to Meeks. The father of the 12-year-old victim, Brian Harper, said that Spears fired at Meeks, so Meeks, who has over a dozen prior arrests, took his own gun out and fired back. Owner Sang Han told the News that Spears, who has 18 prior arrests, "He comes in 10 times a day. He’s a young guy with a hot temper."
The boy, Julian Harper, who was injured was looking around with his father when the confrontation occurred. Harper told the Post he was there to buy his son sneakers, "Before I knew it, I heard pow! pow! pow! It was the Wild West in there... I did my best to protect my son. I tried to act like a shield for him... I pulled my son close to my body and wrapped myself around him. We braced ourselves against a shoe display. And I held him tight and prayed that nothing hit us."
It turned out that a bullet went through Harper's pant leg and into the boy: "I told him not to look and that it was going to be OK. He didn’t make a sound, but he was bleeding... He wasn’t crying. He was being real brave." And the other victim, Christopher Townsend, 34, said, "I was just in there looking at shoes, hats and clothes. The bullets just rang out." Apparently 31 shots were fired.
Save Our Streets Crown Heights held a rally outside the store (though the store isn't in their catchment), reminding people, "Talk to your family and neighbors about gun violence. Remember what we chanted at the response today, 'You save my child, I'll save yours! You watch my block, I'll watch yours.'"
