By Alexander Dworkowitz
A 20-year-old man was shot in broad daylight last Thursday in front of a Burger King on the corner of Roosevelt Avenue and Main Street, the busiest pedestrian intersection in all of northeast Queens, police said.
The No. 7 subway was shut down as police searched for the shooter, and one witness said she had heard a teenager threaten a patron in the fast-food restaurant right before the shooting.
The victim, whose name was not released, was rushed to New York Hospital Medical Center Queens. Police said he was in stable condition the next day.
Police arrested Vladimir Jarrin, a 19-year-old Flushing resident, in connection with the incident, said Detective Vincenzo Romano of the 109th Precinct.
Jarrin is being charged with attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, said Meris Campbell of the Queens district attorney’s office. He face 25 years if convicted.
“A man was shot on the sidewalk,” said Deputy Inspector Owen Monaghan of the 109th Precinct. “Apparently there was some kind of dispute.”
Monaghan said that the victim had been shot in the stomach.
Patrons at Burger King said the shooting occurred just before 4:30 p.m.
The gun was fired directly across the street from a police van, which was parked on Main Street. According to police, the 20-year-old was able to cross the busy street and seek help at the police van.
Believing the perpetrator may have fled into the entrance of the No. 7 subway train, located only steps from the restaurant, police shut down the train line at the beginning of rush hour. Thousands of commuters were left stranded, forced to wait on lines for buses, leaving the usually chaotic intersection a complete mess.
Witnesses said dozens of teenagers were in the restaurant at the time of the shooting.
“I heard one kid say ‘I’m going to get you. You better go outside,’” said Doreen Ferrero, describing one teenager. Ferrero, an MTA supervisor, was eating in the Burger King with her husband Tommy at the time of the shooting.
Although she had not seen him, Ferrero said police had shown her a photo of the injured man, who wore a white doo rag.
Hugo Entrades, who has worked as a security guard at Burger King for nearly three months, said the restaurant has had problems before.
“This place has had a history of problems,” he said. “That’s why they hired me as a security guard.
“Usually, they take it somewhere else,” he added.
Both Ferrero and Entrades said they had not heard any gunshots.
The shooting took place only several storefronts over from the old site of Wendy’s, where five people were massacred and two people injured on May 24, 2000.
“One day Wendy’s got blown away,” said Ferrero. “A lot of things happen in Flushing.”
The Burger King reopened a little more than an hour after the shooting. Customers returned to the restaurant, and the workers visibly held back tears as they tended to the customers.
Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 141.
