By Ivan Pereira
Brione Schneider, 32, of Inwood Street, was killed outside club Stereo around 4 a.m on Jan. 9 after he may have tried to break up a fight between female patrons and a group of rowdy men, police and family members said. He was pronounced dead less than an hour later at St. Vincent's Medical Center. Schneider's older brother, Shawn, 32, of Brooklyn, who went to the club with him but had left the premises before the shooting occurred, said he was shocked by his murder because Brione would avoid trouble whenever he went out.”I left 'cuz I had other stuff to do, but I came back and I find out there was an altercation,” he said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “Later on in the night they told me my brother was outside and I saw him on the street shot,” he said. Brione Schneider, a manager of a Finish Line shoestore in Brooklyn and engaged to Francis Nicolas of Rosedale, died of a gunshot wound to the back, according to the police report. Schneider, who has a son from a previous relationship, was expecting another child with Nicolas.Besides his brother and fiancee, Schneinder is survived by his parents, two sisters and another brother, according to Shawn Schneinder. “We couldn't go any place without anyone knowing him. He was a likeable person. He never raised his voice. This is just ridiculous,” he said.Longtime friend Rodiah Gardner-Dorcely said Brione Schneinder sent his fiancee a text message an hour before he was killed.Officers were still looking Tuesday for the shooter who escaped . A source said they believe the gunman may be from Queens.”One of the guys at the club…said there was someone behind the shooter that said, 'All of those guys from Queens are crazy,'” the source said.The owners of Stereo, located 512 W. 29th St. in Chelsea, released a statement last Thursday saying the argument that may have led to Schneider's death did not originate in the club.”At Stereo, the security and safety of our patrons is our most paramount concern and Stereo maintains a tightly controlled, safe club environment with highly experienced security and close monitoring of our clientele,” the statement said.The NYPD disagreed and shut the nightspot down Friday after police found it had violated a nuisance abatement action filed by the city last spring to crack down on narcotics sales and use licensed security guards, according to a spokesman for the Police Department. “We had gotten recent reports that there were narcotics sales going on, which was a violation of the April stipulation. Some of their security guards were not licensed, and that is against the new law created by the City Council last year,” said Assistant Commissioner Robert Messner of the NYPD's Civil Enforcement Unit.Since it opened in 2005, the club has been a hotspot of “numerous illegal activities,” according to Messner.After the abatement action was issued in April, the club was shut down four months later for not paying a fine and again in September for drug incidents, according to Messner. The club reopened in December on a stipulation that it hire a licensed security firm and install ID verification machines.Gardner-Dorcely said the family was not angry with the club's owners for what had happened but she personally was happy that it was shut down for its alleged safety negligence.”I used to bar tend and I know sometimes people don't care. Maybe it will send a message to other clubs,” she said.Anyone with information about Schneider's murder is urged to call Crimestoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). All calls will be kept confidential.Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
