Man Shot Dead In Brooklyn Target After He Followed Gunman

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Gunman Shoots Man Dead In Target After His Crew Followed And Threatened Him

A man, who was chased into a Brooklyn Target store and threatened at knifepoint by six alleged gang members, fatally shot one of his pursuers, according to cops on Thursday.

The men, all said to be affiliated with the Bloods, confronted the shooter outside the City Point shopping center in Downtown Brooklyn around 11:15 p.m. on Wednesday, according to police. The shooter dashed into Target on the shopping center’s second floor with the group in pursuit, surveillance video obtained by cops shows.

Security guards attempted to intervene at the store’s entrance, but the group threatened them and they backed off, police said. The group surrounded and argued with the shooter, with one of them pulling out a large knife. The shooter drew a gun, warned them to leave him alone, and walked away.

Carlton Spencer then jumped at the shooter, who fired one shot and hit Spencer in the chest, video viewed by cops shows. As Spencer lay dying, the shooter ran out of the mall, with the rest of the enraged group chasing him again. The gang eventually caught the shooter and started beating him.

Cops arrived and arrested the gunman along with the five alleged gang members. A gun was recovered.

Medics took Spencer to Brooklyn Hospital but he could not be saved.

Spencer had a 6-month old daughter named Aurora, family members said. In 2005, he was diagnosed with lymphoma and hospitalized for seven months. The cancer went into remission the next year, according to relatives.

“I’m angry with all this senseless killing, all of this gun killing, all of this taking peoples’ lives,” his mother said. “He had a bright future ahead of him and then somebody so cowardly had to take that away from him.”

Spencer had just been arrested Tuesday for a gang-related robbery, police sources said. His family knew about the arrest but said they did not know him to have any gang affiliation.

“He was a role model. A lot of his friends followed the things that he did and he set an example of what it looks like to do the right thing,” said brother Cordero Spencer, 32. “He was passionate about music and life. We miss him. It’s a void that can’t be filled.”

Charges against the alleged shooter and the men who attacked him were pending.

In a statement Thursday, Target said it had provided security footage to the NYPD and expressed its “deepest condolences to the victim and his family.”