Four dead in Brooklyn rock band murder-suicide, newspaper reports

By August Brown

Nov. 11, 2013 9:38 AM PT

This post has been updated, see below for details.

Three men, including two members of a Brooklyn rock band, are dead after a fellow musician shot them to death in their East Williamsburg apartments before turning the gun on himself, according to various news reports in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

Quoting a law enforcement official, the Wall Street Journal said that the musician, a onetime affiliate of the band, used a .308-caliber rifle as he moved from floor to floor of the apartment building to find and shoot members of the Yellow Dogs. According to the New York Times, he also killed a third man and wounded another in the rampage, the article said.

The gunman’s body was found on the roof of the building, with the rifle nearby, according to the WSJ article.

PHOTOS: Concerts by The Times

The band used the apartment building as a living and rehearsal space, and had concerts on its roof. All members of the band were recent emigrants from Iran, and were interviewed by CNN about the experience of coming to America to play rock music (which is discouraged in their home country). The group had a song featured in the soundtrack of “No One Knows About Persian Cats,” an award-winning film at Cannes.

Below, watch a video for the band’s song, “This City.”

[UPDATED 1:30 p.m., Nov. 11: A statement from Yellow Dogs’ manager said that the shooter was not a former member of the Yellow Dogs, but another Iranian musician who had a prior relationship with the band that ended after a dispute. The statement also clarified that the gunman killed two members of Yellow Dogs, and a third Iranian rock musician not in the band.]