A Brooklyn father of four was shot to death at a Knicks block party just minutes after the hometown team’s historic victory over the weekend, according to authorities and reports.
Emanuel Spencer, 44, was discovered with multiple gunshot wounds steps from his home on Lincoln Road in Prospect Lefferts Garden around 11:40 p.m. on Saturday, according to the NYPD.
Spencer was rushed to the hospital in critical condition, where he was later pronounced dead, police said.
“His day was going good,” Spencer’s younger brother told the New York Daily News. “Everybody was just
watching the basketball game, relaxing.”
“He was a gentle person. Laid back. Family man. Liked to spend time with his daughters,” the brother said. “He loved everything. He loved sports. He loved music.”
A neighbor told the outlet she saw a crowd of ecstatic Knicks fans celebrating the NBA Finals Championship win outside her apartment before the chaos unfolded.
“I heard probably like two or three [gunshots] and then the crowd running,” she said.
“When I was out there, I heard the fireworks, the gunshots, and I grabbed my child, and I went inside…. There were so many people. I don’t understand what the hell happened.”
Photos at the scene captured crime scene tape around abandoned plastic cups and barbecue grills left from the block party.
Sources told the Daily News that the father of four had several robbery and narcotics arrests, including a most recent March 2024 arrest for reckless endangerment.
Neighbors described Spencer as calm, respectful, and a loved member of the neighborhood.
“What I know is a guy I loved and respected is no longer here,” Burnett Coburn, 68, told the outlet. “That’s painful.”
Rowdy mobs celebrating the Knicks’ NBA title across the Big Apple trashed NYPD cars and torched FIFA buses in Times Square, leaving 10 cops hurt and 63 people in handcuffs.
A 17-year-old boy was also shot in the foot, and four people were stabbed during the overnight mayhem, the NYPD said.
No arrests have been made in connection with the shooting, and an investigation remains ongoing.