Metro

Ex-con shot dead, 3 wounded inside Staten Island housing project

A recently-paroled felon was shot dead in the stairwell of a housing project and three others were wounded during a bloody spate of violence on Staten Island this morning, police said.

Cops responding to a 911 call found Justin Stokes, 21, shot in the chest inside the Mariners Harbor Houses on Brabant Street just after 4:30 a.m., and he was rushed to Richmond University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, authorities said.

Three others were also wounded. A 26-year-old man was also shot in the chest, and is listed in critical condition, cops said. A 24-year-old man was blasted twice in his legs, and a 30-year-old was wounded in the buttocks, cops added. They were listed in stable condition.

It was unclear what sparked the violence this morning. No arrests have been made.

Stokes, who lived at the Mariners Harbor Houses, was only paroled from prison in April after serving a 2 1/2-year sentence for attempted criminal possession of a weapon, state records show. Police sources say he had a rap sheet that includes robbery, drug possession and criminal trespassing.