(AP) — Some city residents wondered Tuesday if it’s time to pull the plug on the gaudy West Indian Day parade after three people, including a woman sitting outside her home, were shot to death just blocks from its route. ”I was saying to myself a while ago they probably should shut it down,” said Winston Thomas, a 66-year-old who moved from Jamaica to Brooklyn, site of the annual Caribbean-themed Labor Day parade, 40 years ago. “If you create this kind of atmosphere where you’re killing people all the time, it don’t make sense. … I stay away from it.” Mayor Michael Bloomberg blamed illegal handguns for the shooting that killed three people and wounded two police officers near the parade route shortly after the parade ended Monday night, saying federal officials have not had the “courage” to take steps to control gun use.
