A Brooklyn movie location ripping off a TV crime scene from the headlines became a murder scene early Tuesday when a man who was enforcing production-related parking restrictions was shot dead while sitting in a car, police said.
The murder took place on North Henry Street near Norman Street in the Green Point neighborhood while staff on the crime show “Law & Order: Organized Crime” were preparing to film in the neighborhood, according to police and leaflets posted there.
Police identified the victim as Johnny Pizarro, 31, from Queens.
Mr. Pizarro, whose job was to make sure the street was clear of cars belonging to the gallery, was sitting in a car when a lone assailant approached the car, opened the door and shot him in the head and neck, police said. Police said he was taken to Woodhull Hospital Center in Brooklyn, where he was pronounced dead.
Police said no arrests have been made and the motive has not been determined on Tuesday afternoon. Police said a short, thin man in a black shirt and dark pants was seen running from the scene of the shooting.
“Law & Order: Organized Crime,” airing on NBC and starring Christopher Meloni, is the latest iteration of the enduring procedural crime franchise created by producer Dick Wolf. It is produced by Universal Television, a division of the Universal Studio Group, jointly with Wolf Entertainment, and is filming its third season.
“We are deeply saddened and shocked to hear that a member of our crew was the victim of a crime early this morning and died as a result,” a spokeswoman for NBC and Universal said in a statement. “We are working with local law enforcement as they continue to investigate.”
Lined with large trees and mostly three-storey houses populated by a mixture of old residents and newcomers. Mgr. McGolrick Park, a shaded, dog-friendly oasis, is nearby. Monthly rents for some renovated units range from $3,500 to $5,000, according to online listings.
The district is located in District 94, where serious crimes are relatively rare, according to police statistics. The data shows there was no murder in the area this year as of Sunday.
Janos Ksaug, a 35-year-old resident of the neighborhood who lives near the shooting site, said violent crime is indeed rare in the area.
“Every night I walk here,” said Mr. Kessow, 60, adding that “there was not a single problem” in the neighborhood “and there is nothing as crazy as that.”
He said his truck was parked on Monday evening in the area where the killing took place and that the man he thought was Mr. Pizarro had asked him to move it.
“I saw him yesterday,” said the master as a husband. “He was very active,” he added.
Gabriel van den Berg, who lives across the street from the shooting, said her husband got out after hearing gunshots, and then went back inside after noticing anything was wrong.
“It was really loud,” Ms Van den Berg said of the shooting. “I’m sure it was three gunshots.”
Film crew shows such as “Law & Order: Organized Crime” have long been present in some neighborhoods of the city, often to the chagrin of locals who are frustrated at having to give up coveted parking spaces to make way for production-related vehicles.
Such products usually post notices on lampposts to let residents know when they have to move their cars and when filming will begin. Production-related workers, like Mr. Pizarro, will sit through the night to make sure the streets are clear and to stay that way.
In the case of the production of “Law & Order: Organized Crime,” the publications indicated that cars were due to be removed from the building by 10 p.m. on Monday and that filming was scheduled to begin at 6 a.m. on Tuesday — about an hour after Mr. Pizarro was killed.
The shooting prompted the shutdown of production for the day. Shortly after 4pm, the last police investigators left the area, and so did a tow truck of what was supposed to be the car Mr. Pizarro was in when he was shot.
Olivia Bensimon contributed to the report.
Future teen idol. Typical social media ninja. Alcohol buff. Explorer. Creator. Beer advocate.”