Joseph Stepinski, 45, was shot in front of his Greenpoint, Brooklyn apartment building at 185 Greenpoint Ave on March 6, 2017 and died four days later at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue. Neighbors described a years-long pattern of harassment between Stepinski and his neighbor, 51-year-old retired NYPD officer Gene Barrett, who had lived in the building about 25 years and was said to have repeatedly threatened and flashed a gun.

Witnesses said the shooting happened about 2:30 p.m., with Barrett firing a point-blank shot to Stepinski’s head, then going through Stepinski’s pockets before retreating inside. Police encountered Barrett at a first-floor window holding a gun; he reportedly told officers it was him, leading to an hour-long standoff before he surrendered and was taken into custody.

Barrett was initially charged with attempted murder, assault, robbery, menacing and burglary; after Stepinski’s death prosecutors announced plans to upgrade the charges and he was charged with second-degree murder and pleaded not guilty. Barrett said while in custody that neighbors were conspiring to evict him from his rent-stabilized apartment. Did anyone who knew Stepinski or lived at 185 Greenpoint Ave witness tensions between the two men or have additional information about their long-running dispute?