A 27-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a construction worker at an illegal bar in Sunset Park early Monday, according to police.
Gabriel Hernandez, of 21st Street in Brooklyn, was charged with manslaughter and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, the NYPD said. His attorney information was not immediately available.
Police said 31-year-old Giovanni Rivera was inside the building on 50th Street and Third Avenue when he was shot in the torso and back around 5 a.m. First responders took him to NYU Langone Hospital–Brooklyn, where he was pronounced dead.
Rivera lived about 2 miles away in Borough Park, according to police.
Representatives of the establishment could not immediately be reached.
The investigation is ongoing.
Rivera’s sister, Maria Hernandez, told Gothamist the family had received little information from police and was struggling to piece together what happened.
“ We don't really know much, so it's very hard to cope with it,” she said, adding that she wasn’t sure why her brother was at that location early Monday.
Giovanni Rivera
Hernandez said Rivera worked in construction and was intensely focused on his job in recent weeks, hoping to fund his passion for customizing cars and save money to visit his mother in Mexico. The family is asking for donations to help send his body there, though Hernandez said he was born and raised in Brooklyn.
“He was a very kind, very good-hearted person. He wasn't looking for any trouble,” she said.
The 72nd Precinct, which includes Sunset Park and Windsor Terrace, recorded one homicide this year through Nov. 16, compared to three by the same point in 2024, according to NYPD data. The precinct had three shootings this year through that date, up one from the same period last year.
This story is based on preliminary information from police and may be updated.
