A 60-year-old man was acting in self-defense when he shot a rival to death during a pitched struggle in Brooklyn over a debt — but he still faces criminal charges because he was carrying an illegal gun, law enforcement sources said Monday.
Robert Chan was arrested for weapon possession charges after he got the better of 52-year-old James Stokes, who was also armed with a gun, sources said.
Stokes, who lived in Brownsville according to cops, came to Chan’s block on Lenox Road near Nostrand Ave. about 3:30 p.m. Friday and confronted him, telling the older man he owed him money, sources said
They argued and at one point Stokes pistol-whipped Chan, sources said. The two men struggled over Stokes’ revolver before Chan got control over his attacker’s weapon and shot him in the body and face, sources said.
It wasn’t immediately clear if he shot Stokes with Stokes’ gun or his own.
Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News
A 52-year-old man was fatally shot on Lenox Road in Brooklyn on Friday. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
A camera in a building vestibule caught some of the confrontation, sources said.
A 76-year-old tenant of the building told the Daily News he saw Stokes stumble out the front door.
“It started inside the building,” said the woman, who asked not to be named. “I just only heard the gunshot and then I saw him fall.”
A second later, the gunman exited the building and stood next to his victim as he bled out onto the street, she said.
Chan was arraigned in Brooklyn Criminal Court Sunday and ordered held on $300,000 bond.
He does not face murder or manslaughter charges. He was convicted of criminal mischief in Queens in 2023, according to court papers.
Stokes was free without bail following a 2024 felony assault arrest in Brooklyn over a romantic rivalry when he was killed, sources said.
He was accused of hitting a man in the back of the head with a metal pipe inside the victim’s girlfriend’s home, then shoving the victim up against the wall and pushing the pipe up against his neck. The man suffered a fractured shoulder and bruises, according to a criminal complaint.
Stokes was due back in court July 6 on those charges when he was killed. His lawyer in that case did not return a call seeking comment Monday.
Chan’s lawyer also did not return a message seeking comment.