WANTED: Suspect Joseph Brown, 29. (NYPD)
Four people were shot today at a Coney Island housing project, including a man who was fatally wounded and a beloved granny who took a bullet in the stomach, sources said.
The shoot-out took place shortly before 4 pm in a fifth-floor apartment at the Gravesend Houses on W. 33rd Street when a gunman identified as Joseph Brown tricked 62-year-old Eva Natal into letting him in, sources said.
The thug then headed straight to Natal’s son Matt’s bedroom, where he closed the door and coldly opened fire.
As he ran out of the apartment, the shooter fired a bullet into Eva’s stomach and shot at two others in the living room.
NYPD hostage negotiators were on the scene at one point because they believed Brown had barricaded himself in a building across the street, but cops had mostly left the area by 7:30 p.m.
Police believe the incident occurred because the gun-toting goon had a beef with one of Natal’s sons, a source said.
Eva Natal was rushed to Lutheran Hospital where she was in serious but stable condition.
Matt Natal, 24, was shot in the head and also taken to Lutheran Hospital, where he was in critical condition.
Another son of Eva’s, 40, was grazed by a bullet in the head. He was well enough to remain at the scene and be interviewed by cops.
The unidentified dead man, who was also in his late 20s to early 30s, was a friend of one of the sons.
Two younger males, 12 and 10 years old, and an 18-year-old woman were also in the apartment but not harmed.
Pat Newbold, who lives downstairs and heard the gunshots, described Eva as “everyone’s baby-sitter” in the building and a “wonderful person.”
Newbold said she saw rescue workers bring Matt down from the apartment, adding, “they had his face wrapped. The elevator’s full of blood.”
Another longtime friend of Eva Natal described her as a good “friend” and a “nice lady” who raised five children.
“I cant believe it,” said a senior woman, who lived there 35 years. “I raised all my kids in the building. This is the first time I have seen anything like this happen. This is shocking. “
Police described Brown as Hispanic with braided hair.
Additional reporting by Kate Kowsh and Amber Sutherland