2 shot to death at carnival before NY West Indian Day Parade

The bloodshed came amid unprecedented precautions taken by police to ensure safety at an event routinely marred by violence and a year after an aide to the governor was killed by a stray bullet.

The NYPD had planned to double the number of officers patrolling the neighborhood where a procession of steel drums and costumed revelers was set to kick off at 4 a.m. for J'ouvert.

The department also added 42 new security cameras to watch over an estimated 250,000 revelers and illuminated this year's celebration with 200 light towers.

The changes come a year after Carey Gabay, a 43-year-old lawyer who had worked for Gov. Andrew Cuomo and was deputy counsel of the state's economic development agency, was shot in the head as two street gangs exchanged gunshots during J'ouvert festivities.