A Brooklyn man shot and killed while riding a motorized scooter is remembered as the ‘life of the party’ by his family.
A Brooklyn man who was fatally shot in the head while riding his new motorized scooter was a kind-hearted jokester who adored his large, close-knit family, grieving relatives said Sunday.
Brandon Washington, 42, was shot and killed Friday, cops said. The assailant was last seen fleeing in a black Jeep Wrangler.
Washington was assassinated just five blocks from his Bedford-Stuyvesant home, where he had lived in the same house with his grandmother his entire life, according to his family.
“I escorted him home from the hospital,” Washington’s grandmother Hattie Thompson, 80, said, her voice breaking. “He was my infant.”
Over the weekend, candles were lit outside the Bed-Stuy house in tribute.
“He was kind, amusing, and full of life,” his aunt Lynne Thompson recalled. “Always wore a smile.”
“He was the life of the party,” Aunt Pamela Peterson added.
Washington, according to a third aunt, Thelma Washington, was an excellent father to his son and daughter, who are 24-year-old twins.
“He possessed an incredibly kind heart. He’s a very generous person,” she explained. “When he possessed something, it possessed everyone. That is exactly who he was.”
Washington surprised his grandmother with a birthday celebration two weeks ago, tricking her into coming home by claiming the basement was flooded, she recalled.
“He exclaimed, ‘Ma! There is water everywhere,’ ” Hattie Thompson explained, adding that the surprise rendered her speechless. “I was speechless… I was that taken aback.”
Washington had recently purchased a new scooter for himself, according to his family.
He was riding on Marcus Garvey Blvd. near Hancock St. in Bed-Stuy on Friday just after 6 p.m. when the gunman approached and shot him once in the head.
Washington was rushed to Interfaith Medical Center after the shooter climbed into the black Jeep Wrangler and drove away.
Washington’s death occurred on the eve of another solemn occasion — the following day was his late grandfather’s birthday, and the family was already planning a memorial for him and another uncle who had died. “We just pulled it all together when this happened Friday,” the grandmother explained. “It’s quite a bit.”
The memorial included candle lighting and balloon release to honor and remember the three deceased family members — Washington, his grandfather, and uncle.
