The NYPD is investigating an unusual spike in deadly violence in the city: five killings in a 24-hour period.

All of the victims were shot, in either Brooklyn or Queens, between 12:10 a.m. Tuesday and a little after 10 Tuesday night.

The last shooting occurred on West 19th Street in Coney Island. A 38-year-old man was shot in the head, and a 27-year-old man was hit in the stomach, apparently by the same gunman. They were taken to Coney Island Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

Just before 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Arsenio Gravesande was shot in the left hip on Union Street and Sutter Avenue in Brownsville. The NYPD said officers had responded to a report of a dispute on the corner. Gravesande was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

"This is sad. It's unbelievable, it broke my heart," said Brownsville resident Jaquan Acosta, a friend of Gravesande's. "I'm ready to just go in the house, mind my business, and stay out of people's way."

In Queens, just after 8 p.m. Tuesday, Gregory Haskins, 25, was shot outside his home on Sutphin Boulevard in Jamaica. Police said they found him lying on the pavement. He had been shot in the chest and died at the hospital.

Around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, police found 18-year-old Angel Nixon. Investigators said he had been shot multiple times on 176th Street in Jamaica. He was taken to Jamaica Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police did not make arrests in any of the killings as of this writing. Sources said some of the victims had criminal records.

Gravesande's friends honored him with candles near where he was killed. Acosta said the 28-year-old had two kids and worked construction.

"Everybody loved him, showed him a lot of love and respect," Acosta said.

Investigators said Gravesande had prior arrests and was affiliated with gangs.

The spike in killings recalled the days of high crime in city in the 1980s and early 90s. There has been an uptick in murders this summer, with 31 in July, compared to 28 last July, and a simliar increase in August. And there have been 22 more shootings so far in 2019 compared to the same period last year. Still, the number of murders in the city remainsl down for the year - 196, compared to 199 at this time last year.

The NYPD says the uptick this summer mostly reflects problems in certain neighborhoods, in the Bronx and Brooklyn, where about half of the shootings are gang-related.

"It's scary because we got to live here," Brownsville resident Diane Webb said. "When the bullets start flying, you just go under the bed, because innocent people get shot through their windows."

Anyone with information about any of the incidents is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at or on Twitter @NYPDTips.