Teenager shot to death outside former Trump Soho Hotel

BY THE VILLAGE SUN | A teenager was fatally shot in the head in Soho Tuesday, police said.

The New York Post reported that the homicide, which happened around 2:30 p.m., may have been “school-related.” The gunman, the tabloid said, rode a Citi Bike.

Police identified the victim as Mahki Brown, 16, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. He was shot once in the head and once in the right thigh.

The victim reportedly collapsed in the breezeway just east of the five-star Dominick Hotel, formerly known as the Trump Soho.

Brown was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in critical condition, where he died.

A police spokesperson said that two males may have fled the scene, “possibly on Citi Bikes.”

The spot, between Sixth Avenue and Varick Street, is just steps away from the always-bustling Trader Joe’s supermarket on Spring Street.

The Post said that, according to a source, the young victim was a student at the nearby Broome Street Academy Charter High School. Police did not immediately confirm that.

There are no arrests at this time and the investigation remains ongoing.

A motive for the gun violence was not clear, but the Post said it may have started with a fight between two groups of girls earlier in the day.

The Trump Soho Hotel opened in 2008. In 2017, Trump’s name was stripped off of it after its business declined in the wake of the 2016 presidential election. According to news reports, the renamed hotel saw an immediate uptick in the number of room rentals.

Some refer to the location, since it is west of Sixth Avenue, as being in Hudson Square rather than Soho.