A 19-year-old gunman with no criminal history sparked a gang-related mass shooting at a Brooklyn lounge when he opened fire at a rival before being slain himself in the ensuing gun battle, police said Monday.
Marvin St. Louis died in the early Sunday gunfight he started when he fired at Folk Nation gang member Jamel Childs, 35, according to police. Childs fired back, and two other men immediately opened fire as well.
Childs also died in the exchange of gunfire along with 27-year-old Amadou Diallo, who police said Monday was a bystander.
“I was trying to call him but there was no answer. I went to bed and when I woke up my aunt told me Amadou was killed,” said Mamadou Sanoussy Diallo, a cousin of Amadou.
Amadou worked as a food deliverer, and arrived in the United States in 2023 from his home country, Guinea. It remains unclear why Amadou was at the lounge, Mamadou, told the Daily News.
“We grew up together, we were living in the same apartment since 2023 when he came to this country,” Mamadou said. “He was doing delivery, Uber, DoorDash, everything. He made his living honestly, no stealing, nothing.”
The total number of people shot during the gunfight is 14, cops said Monday.
The gunfight was between two gangs, one known as the Folk Nation and the other as Spice Gang, sources said.
Police at first believed there were 12 people shot, but the list has now grown by two, with one man showing up at Kings County Hospital on Sunday night with an ankle wound and another man arriving at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Brooklyn Methodist early Monday with an unspecified bullet wound.
The start of the mass shooting was captured in grainy video footage recovered by cops from inside Taste of the City Lounge on Franklin Ave. in Crown Heights.
About 10 minutes before the 3:30 a.m. gun battle erupted, Childs and St. Louis were seen on video talking to each other, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Monday.
“Later, Mr. St. Louis approached Mr. Childs and opened fire,” Tisch said. “Mr. Childs returned fire and two other gunmen immediately joined.”
Those other two gunmen fled the scene and are being sought. Detectives do not yet know their names.
Most of the people shot were not involved in the gang beef, but three of them are Folk Nation members, Tisch said Monday.
Childs had eight prior arrests, Tisch said. St. Louis had no record.
“He’s the youngest that died — that’s too painful,” St. Louis’ aunt, who gave her name only as Imacula, told the Daily News on Monday. “He’s very young.”
The aunt described St. Louis as a happy young man who was attending school and came from a devoutly religious family.
“Sometimes you don’t know them when they’re outside. That’s the problem,” she said. “We didn’t want him to do that kind of thing, to see our child involved in this kind of thing.”
“I keep on praying,” she added. “Until they release his body to us, it’s a lot of process. … I’m not believing it. I know it’s happened, but I’m still hoping, until I see his face.”
St. Louis’ involvement in the deadly gun battle shocked his family.
“Wrong place, wrong crowd,” his aunt said. “These young kids nowadays, they prefer to go with crowds.”
“He’s very nice to us,” she added. “He was a very happy young man. … We always know he’s a nice kid. He didn’t show us any bad side. He was very respectful, loved his family.”
Forty-two shell casings were recovered by police inside and outside the lounge.
“The safety and well-being of our guests and community has always been our top priority,” Taste of the City management said in a statement on Instagram. “We ask for compassion, respect and privacy for those grieving as we stand together with our community in mourning.”
Patrons described running for their lives when the gunfire erupted from multiple directions in the crowded club.
“We was just in there,” clubgoer Marie Desir, a 40-year-old mother of two who fled the shooting, said Sunday. “I heard a few gunshots and then … people on the floor, running, trying to save their life just like I did.”
“I ducked down and after that I found a way to get out,” she added. “I laid down on the floor first and when I found a way to get out, I just got out.”
Mayor Adams, along with a crowd of 100 people that included community members and activists, held a vigil Monday evening outside the scene of the shooting to remember the victims. A moment of silence and prayers were held.
“I’m going to tell my staff to get in touch with you and make sure your family gets what they need,” Adams told Mamadou, the cousin of Amadou, at the vigil.
“You have an incident like this at the Taste of the City and you begin to believe it’s a reflection of our city and it is not,” Adams told the vigil gathering. “This is a reflection of our city, the people who are here, showing support for each other, this is the finest we can offer each other.”
Originally Published: August 18, 2025 at 10:47 AM EDT
