Woman Killed In Clinton Hill Shooting

Last night, a 51-year-old woman was killed outside her family's home in Brooklyn. Audrey Johnson had stepped outside of 149 Clifton Place, between Classon and Franklin Avenues, apparently to check on her niece's boyfriend, who was being assaulted by three men. She was shot in the head while 14-year-old nephew Daniel Johnson, was shot in the leg.

The Daily News, which calls the neighborhood Clinton Hill, reports, "There were conflicting reports as to whether Audrey Johnson was a bystander or was shot in cold blood. 'It doesn't seem that she was an intended target,' a police source said, noting that the same was true for Daniel Johnson." And WCBS 2, which says the neighborhood is Bedford-Stuyvesant, adds "that Johnson, who lives in East Orange, New Jersey, had returned to her childhood home to cook Sunday night dinner."

Police are questioning Johnson's niece's boyfriend, Laquan Williams, who the News says "has a long rap sheet, was not shot, but suffered a cut to the head." Johnson's husband is NBA player World B. Free (Wikipedia says the "World" nickname was from a Brooklyn friend "because of his 44-inch vertical leaps and 360-degree dunks"), who is currently community relations director for the Philadelphia 76ers. Her niece told WCBS 2, "my aunt was a very, very nice lady. Everybody knew her for her giving. That's all she did, was give, give, give."

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By Jen Chung in News on December 7, 2009 9:08 AM

Comments [rss]

poetofsorts

potsmoker im nyer born n raised...n no one misses the old days of nyc. who wants 2 live in a city where youore scared to walk out ur front door. no matter where u live ghetto or not. shit like this shouldnt be happing. i miss guilian n i always liked him even pre 9/11..why find it interesting in other ppls deaths. it makes you messed up as those who commit the crimes. keep to your fiction books if u want interesting stories not someone elses pain.

Gwinny

What a shitty-ass niece to be dating such a dubious character. I saw her interviewed on NY1 this morning and she didn't show any remorse about how her choice of boyfriend is directly responsible for the death of her aunt. So shameful!

potsmoker

nyc born and raised in that cesspool you speak of.

wui

Yep, It's Bed stuy. No doubt about it. Some nice brownstones over there (hence the new baby strollers). But I still hold the NYPD to it. They should have foot patrols in troubled areas.. the only foot patrol from the precinct is to the bodega across the street for coffee and the pizza shop next door. You dont EVER see their presence around the area.. until its too late.

ocm123

There are only a limited number of police officers available. The Classon and Clifton region is not nearly as troubled as other areas within the precinct's confines; thus, there are less police assigned to the area. Also, despite what real estate agents tell you, Bed-Stuy is still plagued with gun violence. In a normal year there are over 70 shooting victims and numerous stabbings in the square mile radius that the 79 covers.

Phineas Gage

For the record, this happened in Bedford-Stuyvesant. It is east of Classon Ave., which is the dividing line in that area, per police precincts, community boards, etc.

kc2slg

potsmoker, you've been indulging. I'm a second-generation native Manhattan from the working class, and this city was a cesspool before Giuliani cleaned it up. Unless you're one of those trustafarians who always lived in safe areas.

felixthecat2

The West village has been destroyed and now Chelsea looks like Time Square with the double deckers circling about.

sjack

If you're nostalgic for old new york, you didn't live there.

potsmoker

no disrepect to the familys loss but as a liberal im all for the downfall of nyc.

nyc was more interesting before Gulliani and Bloomberg took over and made it safe for ohio transplants to move to classon place.

hopefully this will scare away people who pay sky high rents to live in the ghetto.

theLtrain

Ha. You just called it Classon Place. I think we found the real transplant.

Out.

ocm123

That is ridiculous. I do not think people realize how dangerous areas of the city were in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Literally, there were areas of the Bronx and Brooklyn that higher murder rates than Baghdad. For example, the 48th precinct, which covers well less than 100,000 people had 137 murders in 1990. That is a murder rate of over 120 per 100,000 people.

ab_bklyn

My friend and her husband and 1-year-old baby live on this block. Scary.

Despite the statistics to the contrary, does anyone else think that gun crime has increased a LOT in the past year or so? I keep hearing about these innocent bystanders taking bullets. It's so sad.

sjack

No. Statistically, gun crimes are way down. Reporting on gun crimes is up, probably because people with money are moving into these neighboorhoods.

Two years ago, there seven people shot in Harlem in one night and it wasn't even reported in the papers for days.

sjack

Oh, and here's Gothamist's story about the stories about the gun violence.

http://gothamist.com/2008/09/24/more_details_on_harlem_shootings_su.php

bts220

wui how is this the fault of the NYPD. All the power has been removed from the police. liberals in nyc is the downfall of this city..OH no NYPD you cant stop and frisk young black men for guns or the aclu is all over it.WELL WAKE THE FCK UP. The overwhelming majority of crimes and murders commited, the gun is in the hands of guess who young black males.btw this was in bed sty

felixthecat2

All the power has been removed from the police. liberals in nyc is the downfall of this city.. No power even has been removed from the police and hardly one of them is ever convicted much less held accountable for unjustly shooting civilians.

dauphine

a block from my house! represent!

wui

so sad. another shooting 2 blocks from that precinct. A+ work NYPD.. a pregnant woman and now an elderly lady.

ocm123

What does the location of the precinct have anything to do with this? Just because this is two blocks away does not mean there are more cops on the block.