Another crime of passion in Brooklyn.

In a tiny beauty shop on 11th Street between Fifth and Fourth Avenue, a man killed his ex-wife (or girlfriend) and then killed himself.

It was a crime of jealousy. Of revenge. He was angry because she was dating another man.

The woman, one of the owners of Delores’ Beauty Shop, was rushed to Methodist Hospital. But she died enroute. The man was dead immediately.

The shootings occurred at 11 a.m. Soon after, the street was closed off as a crime scene. Police and news helicpopters were seen flying over Park Slope.

The beauty shop is right next door to the tiny Cafe Regular, a favorite local spot.  `

At 4:30 when I came by on my way to see my therapist, the block was closed to traffic. A big crowd of onlookers stood in the rain. But I wasn’t sure what was going on. A commercial, maybe a movie. Then I realized that there was a crime scene  on my therapist’s block.

I was determined to get to my appointment so I walked under the police line and walked toward Fourth Avenue. Then I was stopped by a group of four policemen with the words "Crime Scene" monogrammed on their blue uniforms.

I told them that I had an appointment on the block. They looked at me like I was crazy. "This is a crime scene. Get off the block. Didn’t you notice the police tape?" One of the cops rolled her eyes.

They advised me to walk down 10th Street to Fourth Avenue and come around the other way. I arrived a little late for my appointment. My therapist had heard about the shooting from an earlier client. He hadn’t had a chance to go outside.

When the session was over, I was able to walk up to Fifth Avenue from his building. Locals standing under umbrellas crowded across the street from the beauty salon were waiting for the body to come out. There were news cameras and a sprinkling of reporters with notepads and press passes. A man asked me if the woman killed was named Delores. "She used to cut my hair." A reporter asked if she was from the Dominican Republic and he nodded yes, looking sad. 

There were rumors that the woman’s boyfriend had been murdered, as well. "That depends what side of the block you’re on."

Another woman heard that the woman’s boyfriend had also been sent to Methodist. "My friend works there and that’s what she told me."

One of the reporters had the police report. He held it in his hand and said there was just one man killed, a suicide.

Crime scene policemen worked for hours marking up the small beauty shop with chalk and police tape and taking photographs. I saw a policeman wearing blue rubber gloves. I left before the body was removed from the beauty shop.

Later my daughter said that she and her classmates had noticed the helicopters flying above them in the school playground. They stared up at the sky, she said. "It hurt my eyes."