Police were searching Saturday for the person who shot and killed two men inside a playground in Brownsville, Brooklyn, as a memorial formed. The killings happened inside Howard Playground in Brownsville, at Mother Gaston Blvd. and Glenmore Ave. The victims were identified as Antoine Utsey, 35, of Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, and Deon Miller, 33, who lived up the street from the playground. Officers were alerted to shots fired Friday night shortly before 10:30 PM. Police found Miller with a gunshot wound in the neck and Utsey with wounds in the chest and ankle. EMS transported Miller to Interfaith Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Utsey was pronouced dead at One Brooklyn Health-Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center. People who knew the victims told NBC New York that at least one of the men who died was heavily involved in the community, and just last month hosted a basketball tournament for kids in the neighborhood. (Image: NBC New York) “The devil is a liar, but we need to pray for our youth,” Dolores Tripp of Brownsville said as she and those in the are coped with the shock of the bloodshed at a place that still found kids playing basketball just hours later. “Everybody is afraid now about what happened,” added Pastor Thomas Guzman. Investigators searched for evidence inside the playground through the night. (Image: NBC New York) Authorities have not released details on who might have opened fire or why. “It’s a sad day for Brownsville. It’s a sad day for just the community as a whole,” said Mike Warren with the anti-violence nonprofit Brownsville Think Tank Matters. “A lot of kids just have idle time, nothing to do. It’s just like they need things to do.” (Image: NBC New York) Neighbor Latoya Green said the shooting was especially troubling, given the location. “Hopefully, we can we can help. We can come together and stop the violence in the neighborhood with the youth,” she said. “It’s the youth that’s that’s participating in a lot of this violence. So if we can, come up with programs or, you know, outreach programs, mental health (assistance).” This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC New York. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC New York journalist edited the article for publication. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. ...read more read less