Brooklyn Man Stabbed to Death at Flatiron Club

A 25-year-old man was stabbed to death inside the Flatiron club Duvet early Friday morning. Shamel McKinney stumbled outside and collapsed outside on West 21st street, "blood gushing from his wounds, just after 3:30 a.m.," according to the Daily News. McKinney, who had an arrest record for drug possession with intent to sell, was pronounced dead at St. Vincent's Hospital.

Police suspect that McKinney may have been partying with the rapper Fabolous at Duvet, but McKinney's brother says the rapper wasn't there. Darryl McKinney said his brother, who did wear a "medallion from the rapper's 'Street Family' crew," didn't have anything to do with the fight that caused the stabbing, which seemed to occur after two women got into a fight, either: "He got caught in the middle. He wasn't with the girls. He was just standing there, however the fight happened. Three boys jumped on him. He didn't know them."

Police found a bloody 7-inch knife in a Dumpster near the club. McKinney's brother added that he was searched when he went to the club, "How did a knife get in the club?" Investigators will be reviewing surveillance cameras, and neighbors aren't very happy with the violence in the area. The director of the Flatiron Alliance Susan Finley told WCBS 2, "We've had blood on the ground that we didn't know who to call to get it taken off the ground when our children are walking to school in the morning."

Last year, Fabolous was shot at P. Diddy's Flatiron restaurant Justin's - near Duvet - but his friends ran a red light and were stopped by the police. The police then found two unlicensed guns in the car and arrested Fabolous and his friends. Then it was rumored basketball player Sebastian Telfair may have instigated the shooting because his $50,000 chain was stolen at Justin's earlier (Telfair denied it) - Fabolous' crew had apparently been in a "long-running, tit-for-tag medallion-snatching war with other crews in Bed-Stuy."