‘I didn’t sleep all night.' Father mourns son fatally shot in Brownsville on Christmas Eve
News 12 spoke with Iwanowicz’s father on Thursday, a day after the shooting. He said his son left their apartment around 6 a.m. on Christmas Eve, telling him he would be back by 10 a.m.
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Police have identified the man fatally shot in Brownsville on Christmas Eve as 46-year-old Marcin Iwanowicz.
News 12 spoke with Iwanowicz’s father, Stanislaw, who said his son left their Midwood apartment around 6 a.m. on Christmas Eve, riding a scooter to a clinic and telling him he would be back by 10 a.m.
When hours passed and his son didn’t return, the father said he began calling him repeatedly — but never got an answer.
It wasn’t until around 9 p.m. that police came to the family’s home and told them Iwanowicz had been killed.
“I didn’t sleep all night. I just cried half of the night. I didn’t eat nothing,” his father said. “I’m old, you know… if you’re young you take everything differently. What am I supposed to do… to die?”
Police say the shooting happened just before 10 a.m. near the corner of Powell Street and Belmont Avenue, outside the St. Jude clinic, where Iwanowicz had been going for treatment.
Officers responding to a 911 call found him lying on the sidewalk with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was taken to One Brooklyn Health–Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Investigators spent hours at the scene collecting evidence, including shell casings. A bullet hole was also visible in the wall of the building near where the shooting happened. Police say no arrests have been made and the investigation remains ongoing.
Iwanowicz’s father said Marcin was the oldest of two sons and came to the United States from Poland when he was just 5 years old. He described his son as kind and helpful, often assisting him with daily tasks as his own health declined.
The family has already faced significant loss. Iwanowicz’s mother died nine years ago after being struck by a car, and now his father says he is struggling to stay afloat financially and worries about how he will afford rent — and how he will pay for his son’s funeral.
