Brooklyn, NY – Jewish Community Stunned As Shot Man’s Body Dumped In Front of Yeshiva of Flatbush Shabos Night

Brooklyn, NY – A troubled carnival worker at Coney Island’s Astroland, who told friends he was about to skip town, was shot in the head execution-style and dumped in front of a Brooklyn yeshiva, police and family said today.

Michael Rizzo, 30, lay near death when a passerby spotted him facedown outside the Yeshiva of Flatbush on E. 10th St. in Midwood at 11:30 p.m. Friday. Rizzo died within minutes.

“His feet were on the gutter; the other part of his body was on the sidewalk,” said the passerby who found Rizzo, a 58-year-old man who asked to be identified as only as Leon. “He was moving his arm a little bit – he still had life,” Leon said. “I got scared [and] I thought, ‘I got to call the police!'”

Leon, an Orthodox Jew, was observing the Sabbath Friday night and was not carrying a cell phone or any money in adherence with religious tradition, so he had to flag down a couple in a passing car to call for help. “I told them, ‘Please come over, I need help!’ ” said Leon, adding that the couple dialed 911 and the Hatzolah ambulance service.

An FDNY ambulance rushed Rizzo to Maimonides Medical Center, where he died just after midnight.

Investigators believe that Rizzo was shot elsewhere and then dumped in the heavily Jewish neighborhood because very little of the man’s blood was found on E. 10th St.

Rizzo had three prior arrests, but had no obvious link to organized crime, the source said.

Residents on the quiet block where Rizzo was found were stunned. “I didn’t sleep,” said Leon, who was wearing a blue-and-white prayer shawl as he returned to where the body was found. “I’ve never experienced something like that.” “I’ve lived here for close to 30 years. I’ve never heard of something like this, especially on the Sabbath,” said another longtime resident, a grandmother who identified herself as Sara. “It’s scary.”