This sad story from Crown Heights. A sanitation worker who caught a 4-year-old girl last year as she was thrown to safety from a burning building was shot in the head and killed early yesterday on a Brooklyn street, the police said. This is from the NY Times. ( John Marshall Mantel took the picture of Allen’s shoes for the New York Times).
Damon Allen, 33, was once again trying to help others, the police and witnesses said, urging them to take cover from the crossfire of a gun battle that erupted around 2 a.m. in Crown Heights.
In homes and on streets across the neighborhood, thousands of revelers, some in costume, some playing steel drums, were celebrating J’ouvert, a celebration held every year on the eve of the West Indian American Day Carnival Parade.
“Nearly one year ago, Damon Allen was the city’s hero for saving the life of a little girl,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said to reporters at the parade yesterday. “Today he lies dead, the victim of an apparent random shooting.”
i just moved to this neighborhood, specifically to the street. I love the area, but am discouraged by news like this. its so sad and unnecessary. as the mother of the rescued little girl said, while he was there to save that my daughter, no one was there to save him.