A 28 year-old actress-playwright, Nicole duFresne, died from gunshot wounds during a robbery on Clinton Street near Delancey early Thursday morning. The Brooklyn resident had left Max Fish with her fiance, Jeffrey Sparks, and two friends at 3:15AM when they were approached by two teenagers, demanding their money. Sparks pushed past one of them, who hit him in the face with a gun. Then, according to the police, it seems that the would-be robbers demanded duFresne's purse, and duFresne protested. Sparks says he heard her say, "What are you going to do, shoot us?" One teen did shoot duFresne, who was still breathing and "died in [Sparks's] arms." Sparks added, "It looked like it's probably the first robbery he'd ever done. He wasn't good at it." duFresne had just finished her first night tending bar at Rockwood on Allen Street, and had been working on a pilot for The Food Network with Sparks. She also had a play performed in the Fringe Festival in 2003. The police are looking for the gunman, who is described as being black, slim, about 5-feet-8, wearing a parka and a scarf; tips can be called into (800) 577-TIPS (577-8477).
The NY Times noted the similarity between this incident and Burke O'Brien's death on Orchard Street two years ago. The O'Brien murder also occured in the early morning, around 4AM. This makes Gothamist think that even though the Lower East Side is hopping with bars and activity, like any part of the city, it's vulnerable at night.
Update: Dewey DuFresne, father of Wylie Dufresne (wd-50) and not related to the victim, tells Newsday, "I'm concerned for my wife and her friends, people who live and work in the neighborhood and others who get out late of the restaurant. It's the kind of thing that used to happen here a lot, 10 or 12 years ago, when I first came here." The Newsday article also talks about the L.E.S. "being on the upswing."
