Posted on 08/28/2011 9:47:45 AM PDT by Altura Ct.
A Queens party advertised on Facebook and Twitter as "Drama Free" turned into a shooting gallery early Saturday.
Eleven young people were shot, including a teenage girl left paralyzed, when a gunman opened fire into the crowd.
About 100 people were packed into the backyard of the single-family home on Inwood St. in South Jamaica shortly before 1 a.m., when the shooter sneaked up a back alleyway and opened fire into the yard through a chain link fence.
Police said six males ages 15 to 23, and five women, ages 15 to 21, were shot, with bullets hitting them in their arms, legs, hands and feet.
A 15-year-old girl, not immediately identified, was shot in the back, and police said the bullet severed her spine.
The wounded were taken to three area hospitals, and all were reported in stable condition.
"Everything was all smooth, and then the shots started coming through the gate, and everybody started running," said Allan Dawkins, 23, who said he threw the party for a younger sister, Florence Dudney, who was moving to Washington
Dawkins advertised the party on Twitter and Facebook, as "Free Food, Free Drinks, Live Video, photos, Drama Free."
He said he initially charged "$3 for dudes, $1 for females, but after a while we just stopped.
"IDs were being checked and everybody was being searched through the front," he said. "So he [the shooter] probably came in, seen somebody he had issues with, went home and got his gun."
Dawkins said when the shooting stopped, the wounded 15-year-old girl, a friend of his sister he knows as "Frenchie," was lying face down in the yard.
"A lot of people didn't know they were hit," he said. "One guy made it to the boulevard [Rockaway], and that's four blocks away. The only person who knew she was hit was the girl, and one guy."
A young girl standing with a group outside the house yesterday said, "nobody in the backyard realized those were shots until the third or fourth one went off. People in front of the house started running in all directions right away, but those in the backyard didn't. I can't understand why."
Police said they recovered several 9-mm. bullet casings from the scene.
Did they forget to turn down the stereo after midnight?
Bet it was the Amish again.
Eventually NYC will get a 100 or even 500 year storm that will dwarf the effects of the 1900 Galveston storm that killed at least 8,000 people which still is the worst natural disaster in US history in terms of fatalities.
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