A late-night baby shower at the Volume Seventeen event venue in Richmond Hill, Queens, New York, turned into a nightmare early Saturday morning, April 4, 2024, when gunfire erupted, leaving one man dead and three others wounded, according to NYPD.
Police responded to a 911 call around 1:30 a.m. at the venue located at 108-11 Atlantic Avenue, where they found 24-year-old Jefari Dobie, of Brooklyn, mortally wounded. Despite efforts to save him, he was pronounced dead upon arrival at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center.
Three other men were injured in the incident: a 45-year-old who was shot once in the left leg, a 26-year-old who was shot in the right arm, and a 43-year-old who arrived at the hospital with two gunshot wounds to his right arm and one to his left leg. All three were reported to be stable at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Queens, and Jamaica Hospital.
Neighbors reported hearing several gunshots just before 1:30 a.m. “I heard pop, pop, and thought it was a firecracker,” Wasir Rasul, a resident who had just returned from a night shift at JFK Airport, told the local media. “I went back inside to avoid getting shot.”
Surveillance footage showed panicked guests fleeing as at least a dozen shots were fired. Another camera captured a white sedan speeding away down Atlantic Avenue shortly after the gunfire. Bullet holes riddled the windows and doors of the venue, while overturned tables and baby shower decorations littered the floor.
The NYPD confirmed that there have been no arrests yet, and the investigation remains ongoing. Police are also working to identify the motives behind the attack.
Neighbors expressed concerns about Volume Seventeen, which they said has been a source of trouble since it opened two years ago. “There’s nothing new about it. Every weekend, it’s the same going on,” Wasir Rasul added. His wife, Nadia Rasul, said, “Seventeen years I’m living here. Never see this.”
Mike Sullivan, a parent whose children attend a dance studio next to the venue, expressed relief that the studio was closed when the shooting occurred. “It was a little bit scary, and I thank God this studio was closed at that time,” Sullivan told CBS New York. He added, “I think there’s going to be a petition going around in the neighborhood to have them shut down … I would be right on top of the list.”
The police also responded to two other shooting incidents that occurred within 45 minutes of the baby shower shooting.
At around 1:40 a.m., just 15 minutes after the Richmond Hill incident, a 25-year-old man was shot in the head outside 199-23 Linden Blvd. in Jamaica, Queens. He was transported to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in critical condition.
Shortly after 1 a.m., in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, two men were shot at 15 Albany Ave. A 47-year-old was hit in the stomach, while a 34-year-old was shot in the right elbow. Authorities are looking for two suspects who fled the scene on bikes heading toward Fulton Street.
Police have not yet made any arrests in connection with any of the incidents and have not disclosed whether the shootings are linked.
Parents and community members expressed dismay over the violence that has marred the Richmond Hill neighborhood. “To come and just witness a scene of something like this happening is very devastating in our community,” one parent said. “We pay some of the highest taxes in the nation, but living in an unsafe environment isn’t what we want our kids to experience.”
