Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York | Department of Justice
Terry Brooks, a resident of the Bronx and Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for illegally possessing ammunition related to a shooting incident that occurred on November 12, 2023. The sentencing was handed down by U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett, who also presided over Brooks's guilty plea.
According to United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton, "Terry Brooks armed himself with an arsenal of weapons and shot an innocent bystander on the busy streets of New York City, seriously injuring that person. Brooks cannot be in a position to harm or kill other New Yorkers. Today’s sentence protects New Yorkers from a violent, gun-toting offender and sends a message to anyone considering the same path: New York will not tolerate it."
Court documents state that between July 2023 and August 2024, Brooks purchased more than 50 firearm components online and possessed nine firearms. Among these were two privately manufactured and un-serialized “ghost guns.” On November 12, 2023, during a verbal dispute with another man on a public sidewalk in the Bronx, Brooks fired one of these ghost guns. The bullet struck a nearby bystander in the abdomen and lodged near her spine. She was taken to a hospital where she underwent emergency surgery.
Investigators used surveillance footage and other records to identify Brooks as the shooter. On August 14, 2024, law enforcement executed search warrants at his residences and recovered eight firearms—including the ghost guns—along with ammunition and firearm parts. Ballistics testing confirmed that the shell casing found after the November shooting matched one of Brooks’s ghost guns seized during the search. Officers arrested Brooks on August 21, 2024, recovering an additional firearm.
In addition to his prison sentence, Brooks was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay restitution to the victim.
Jay Clayton commended Homeland Security Investigations and the New York City Police Department for their investigative efforts.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin Grossinger and James Mandilk from the Office’s General Crimes Unit.
