BROOKLYN, NY — A former worker at Coney Island’s Luna Park received a 13-year prison sentence today for shooting a co-worker over an argument about customers and profits. Video surveillance showed the defendant disposing of evidence before fleeing the state.
District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced the sentencing, emphasizing that gun violence would not be tolerated in Brooklyn. Joseph Colon, 38, of Coney Island, was sentenced by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Susan Quirk to 13 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision. Colon was convicted on May 31 for charges including second-degree attempted murder and first-degree criminal use of a firearm.
Both Colon and the victim, also 38, worked at the Jumbo Prizes game booth at Luna Park. Tensions between the two escalated over customers and profits in the week leading up to the shooting. On September 10, 2021, at around 8 p.m., video surveillance captured Colon shooting his co-worker in the chest at the game booth.
After the shooting, Colon was seen on camera discarding a camouflage hoodie in a garbage can at Nathan’s Famous. DNA testing later confirmed the hoodie belonged to him. Colon fled to an apartment in Coney Island before heading to Pennsylvania. He was subsequently extradited to New York by U.S. Marshals and the NYPD’s Regional Fugitive Task Force.
The victim sustained multiple injuries including a gunshot wound to the chest, a broken rib, a collapsed lung, a lacerated liver, and severe blood loss. He was treated at NYU Langone Brooklyn and released after approximately one week.