A man was slain this morning in a vicious gang-related squabble in East New York, law-enforcement sources said.
The seeds of the deadly conflict were sown last week when the victim’s girlfriend told cops that her boyfriend slashed the suspect’s face with a razor blade, sources said. The woman told cops that her beau was in the process of joining a gang, but decided to back out of it, leading to the brawl, sources added.
The killer opened fire on the victim, identified as Isiah Chapman, about 4 a.m., blasting him several times in the back outside of the Pennsylvania Avenue-Wortman Avenue housing development on Vermont Avenue, cops said. EMS rushed Chapman to Brookdale Hospital, but it was too late. He was pronounced dead.
“Both of them were up to no good. It was street justice,” the source said. “He wanted to get back at him for slashing his face last week, and he did.”
Law-enforcement sources say the suspect they are hunting for was last seen in the lobby of the Linden housing development on Stanley Avenue, near Vermont Street.
A witness, who lives in the building, said he saw the killer. “[The suspect] came running to my building with a gun. I went in the elevator out in the lobby, and as soon as the doors closed, I heard shots,” he said. “This happens all day, everyday, so this is nothing new to me.”
Chapman has seven prior busts on his record, including robbery, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest, police sources said.