Brooklyn

A personal tragedy and Gov. Andrew Cuomo's gun-control policies collided Monday as the governor expressed outrage over the shooting of one of his former aides in the early morning hours before the West Indian American Day Carnival parade.

Cuomo spoke with reporters before the parade Monday about how helpless he feels in the wake of the tragedy, which gravely injured attorney Carey Gabay, 43, and how anyone who doesn't believe federal gun control laws are needed is "delusional."

"We can protect the Second Amendment and legitimate gun owners, but we also need to protect people," Cuomo said. "How many young, innocent people have to die before this nation comes to its senses?"

Gabay, a former assistant counsel to Cuomo who is now a first deputy general counsel at Empire State Development in New York City, was with family members attending J'Ouvert, a march that happens in the pre-dawn hours before the carnival begins, Cuomo said.

Eight to 10 shots were fired during a dispute on the street, and Gabay was hit once in the head. The governor's office said Gabay was listed in critical condition at Kings County Hospital Center.

Cuomo made note of the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act he pushed through the state Legislature in 2013 in the wake of a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, but that there's more that needs to be done. Gun rights activists continue to fight the law, which in part banned assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

"How many mentally ill people have to get a gun and kill children? How many criminals have to get a gun and kill innocent people before this nation is going to say we have to do something?," Cuomo said.

The pre-party before the carnival, which celebrates Caribbean food, music and culture, was marred by more violence early Monday, including a fatal stabbing and another shooting. NYPD officials said the investigation into the Gabay shooting, which happened around 3:40 a.m., is ongoing but it appeared that the state employee was an "unintended target" during an incident in which two groups of people were firing at each other.

Gabay and his wife, Trenelle, are expecting their first child. Cuomo described Gabay as the "American Dream," growing up in public housing in the Bronx and eventually graduating from Harvard Law School. He worked at various law firms before becoming an assistant counsel in Cuomo's office in 2011.

"I was just with the family and the tears and the frustration," Cuomo said. "I'm governor of the state of New York and there's nothing I can say and there's nothing I can do, and sometimes it just hurts."

Cuomo left on a scheduled overnight trip Monday afternoon with a sizable delegation to Puerto Rico to address the U.S. territory's economic woes. Cuomo has said New York can help Puerto Rico confront spiraling health care costs— something Cuomo's administration tackled in 2011 with its Medicaid Redesign Team.

Newsday contributed to this report. lstanforth@timesunion.com • 518-454-5697