Gunman who shot and wounded 8 at Coney Island BBQ also killed boy's puppy, DA says

John Annese, New York Daily News on Aug 12, 2026

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NEW YORK — The gunman accused of spraying a Brooklyn Fourth of July cookout with gunfire isn’t just an alleged mass shooter — he’s also a puppy killer, prosecutors say.

Robert Smith, 44, fired a fatal bullet into the head of a 6-year-old boy’s beloved 10-week-old pup, Sky, when he opened fire on a crowd of about 50 people celebrating the Fourth at a Coney Island family barbecue, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez revealed Wednesday.

Prosecutors also announced the arrest of a second suspect, Kevin Blunt, 44, who they say helped Smith clear a jam in his gun before Smith sprayed 15 bullets into the crowd, wounding four adults and four children in a courtyard on W. 30th St. near Surf Ave.

Both men have been charged with attempted murder and other offenses in an 88-count indictment. Prosecutors put out another new detail at the alleged dog slayer’s Brooklyn Supreme Court arraignment Wednesday — the TEC-9 he wielded was also used for a 2023 homicide in Coney Island.

Smith was arrested first, on July 8, while police caught up with Blunt on Aug. 3.

The victims included the 6-year-old boy, who was shot in the stomach, a 7-year-old boy shot in both legs, another boy, 12, struck in the leg, and a fourth boy, 14, hit in the thigh, as well as a woman, 21, shot in the chest, a second woman, 25, struck in the leg, a man, 33, shot in the chest, and another man, 37, hit in the shoulder.

All survived their wounds. The 21-year-old woman was initially hospitalized in critical condition.

The victims are all part of the same extended family except for one family friend, who cops believe was the intended target, police sources said.

On Wednesday, Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Danny Chun ordered that Smith remain held without bail. Blunt is also being held without bail. Both have pleaded not guilty.

“These defendants are allegedly responsible for unleashing a barrage of gunfire into a courtyard packed with families celebrating the Fourth of July, striking eight people — including four children — and killing a 6-year-old boy’s puppy,” Gonzalez said Wednesday. “The fact that no person was killed is extraordinary, but it does not diminish the alleged recklessness and brutality of this attack.”

The 6-year-old boy had already seen more than his share of death and trauma before the shooting — his father was shot to death before he was born and his teenage aunt was gunned down when he was a toddler, his mother told the Daily News last month.

“(My son) said to me, ‘Mommy, they shot me. That person tried to kill me,’’ the victim’s mother, Ineisha Greene, told The News shortly after the shooting. “My son don’t know what’s going on, but he knows what happened to him. He’s very smart. He knows exactly what happened to him.”

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