An indie rock musician shot and killed nearly all of the members of a Williamsburg dance-punk band from Iran before turning the gun on himself at the band’s practice space and apartment early on Monday morning, cops said.
Police called just after midnight to 318 Maujer St., between Waterbury Street and Morgan Avenue, found one man shot in the arm outside the building. Upon entering, they encountered another three men shot dead and, on the roof, the alleged gunman dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, cops said.
All of the victims, including the shooter, were members of either the Yellow Dogs, alt rock band the Free Keys, or both, according to police, who declined to reveal the names of the victims or the alleged shooter until their families have been notified.
Reaching their parents may take more time than usual because all the musicians in the Yellow Dogs hail from Iran, where rock music is heavily censored by the country’s theocratic government, and, according to published reports, they have been seeking asylum in the United States.
The wounded man was treated at Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens and later released, according to police.
The Yellow Dogs opened for the funk-punk band !!! at the Music Hall of Williamsburg last year and frequently headlined Brooklyn venues including the Brooklyn Bowl, Shea Stadium, and the Knitting Factory.
The group shared the Maujer Street space with Iranian stencil artists Icy and Sot, according to a post on the Yellow Dogs’ Facebook page.
