Last night, four members of the Shomrim, the Orthodox Jewish volunteer patrol, were shot in Borough Park when they confronted a man who allegedly fondled himself and leered at young children in the neighborhood. When they approached David Flores, 33, near 49th Street and 10th Avenue, he opened fire on them. Motty Perl, who was shot in the hand and shoulder, told the Post, “I tackled him and as we were falling to the ground, he started shooting all over the place. I thought it was a BB gun. I didn’t think the gun was real.”
Apparently Shomrim, which is licensed and unarmed and has a “strong” relationship with the NYPD, had been following Flores because, the Daily News reports, “they got a call that he was touching himself in front of kids near Borough Park.” The News adds, F”lores – who has nine prior arrests, including for public lewdness and weapons possession – saw the volunteers in his rearview mirror and bailed from his vehicle on 46th St. near 10th Ave. at about 7:30 p.m., when he got stuck in traffic, authorities said.” But when the Shorim members tried to apprehend him, he fired.
Another member of the group, Jacob Daskel, who wasn’t injured, said, “It was like a scene out of the movies. He kept on shooting. He was on the floor. We were grabbing his hand, holding it down.” According to the Post, Abraham David Kastow, who tried to kick away the gun, was hit in the shoulder and suffered a burn to his palm while trying to get the gun from Flores; Yoel Klein was hit in the abdomen, back and torso; and Motty Broner was hit in the neck.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said that Flores, who also shot himself in the arm during the incident, could face charges of public lewdness as well as attempted murder.