🚨 10 HURT NEAR WEST INDIAN DAY PARADE: BROOKLYN CELEBRATION HIT BY SHOOTINGS, STABBINGS & SLASHING

What was supposed to be one of New York City's biggest celebrations of Caribbean culture ended with another conversation nobody wanted to have.

The 2026 West Indian American Day Parade brought hundreds of thousands of people to Brooklyn's Eastern Parkway on Monday for music, elaborate costumes, Caribbean food and culture. But while officials and attendees said the parade itself was largely peaceful, a series of violent incidents in the surrounding Crown Heights area left 10 people injured.

And when I say series, I mean this wasn't one incident.

Police say the final tally was three people shot, six stabbed and one slashed across six separate incidents around the festivities. Nine victims were reported stable, while one remained in critical condition in the latest NYPD accounting.

IT STARTED BEFORE THE PARADE EVEN GOT GOING

The trouble began early Monday morning around the J'Ouvert celebration, which takes place before the main parade.

At approximately 5:48 a.m., violence broke out near Carroll Street and Utica Avenue. Early reports identified multiple men suffering stab wounds, including injuries to the neck and face. Additional violence followed minutes later near Eastern Parkway and Nostrand Avenue, where a man was slashed in the face.

Later in the day, the gunfire started.

Shortly after 4 p.m., a 24-year-old man was shot in the buttocks on Nostrand Avenue near the parade route. Witnesses described seeing a fight before hearing gunshots and watching people run.

Minutes later, more shots were fired near Eastern Parkway and Kingston Avenue.

A 37-year-old woman was shot in the leg or ankle, while a 19-year-old man suffered graze wounds to his legs. Both were taken to the hospital in stable condition.

And unfortunately, the violence wasn't finished.

Police later reported additional stabbings, including an incident around 9:30 p.m. in which a man was stabbed multiple times and left in critical condition.

AND POLICE HAD THOUSANDS OF OFFICERS OUT THERE

Here's the part that's going to have people talking.

NYPD knew violence had been a problem around previous celebrations and came into this year's event with a massive security operation.

There were thousands of officers, checkpoints, metal detectors and restrictions on bags along the parade route. Officials also scheduled the parade to end at 5:30 p.m., earlier than in previous years, specifically as part of efforts to reduce violence.

And people STILL managed to shoot, stab and slash each other.

At some point we have to stop acting like the police can put a metal detector around an entire neighborhood.

You can have 10,000 officers standing outside.

If somebody woke up at 5:30 in the morning ready to stab somebody before the festival even started, we have a PEOPLE problem.

ONE SHOOTING SUSPECT WAS ARRESTED

Police arrested 19-year-old Nayshawn Wilkinson in connection with the shooting of the 24-year-old man on Nostrand Avenue.

And this is where the story gets even crazier.

According to police and court records cited by NBC New York, Wilkinson had been released on bail just over a month earlier while facing charges connected to a separate Brooklyn shooting. He now faces assault and weapons charges stemming from the parade-area shooting.

That means we're not just talking about what happened Monday.

We're going to have another conversation about what happens when somebody accused of serious gun violence is released and then allegedly gets involved in another shooting.

BUT LET'S BE CLEAR ABOUT THE PARADE

This part matters.

Calling the entire West Indian American Day Parade a violent disaster wouldn't accurately describe what happened.

The parade itself remained a massive celebration of Caribbean heritage, music, food and culture, and reporting from the event described hundreds of thousands of people participating. NBC New York also reported that attendees and neighborhood residents expressed frustration that violence near the celebration can overshadow everything positive happening inside it.

And I understand that.

Because imagine putting months into costumes, floats, music and celebrating your culture, then eight fools start fighting and suddenly THAT becomes what everybody remembers.

But we can't ignore the violence either.

Ten injured people is ten too many.

You should be able to put on your feathers, grab your food, dance until your feet hurt, argue over who has the best jerk chicken and GO HOME.

Nobody should need a trauma unit to attend a parade.

So here's today's question:

When violence repeatedly happens around a major celebration, what should cities do differently without punishing the thousands of people who came simply to celebrate their culture?

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