By Courtney Dentch
A Laurelton man was shot and killed as he tried to escape an ambush after he stepped out of his car in front of his 134th Road home last week, police said.
Karim Titus, 20, was found outside his home with gunshot wounds to his torso at about 7:30 p.m. Jan. 6, police said. Titus was taken to Mary Immaculate Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about 45 minutes later, police said.
Titus had just parked his car outside his apartment building at 221-29 134th Rd. in Laurelton when a man who had been waiting across the street approached him just before 7:30 p.m., police said.
Titus, who apparently recognized the man, tried to escape his attacker and ran north on 222nd Street.
The shooter, dressed all in black, pulled out a silver handgun and started yelling at Titus, police said. Titus kept running and the gunman continued to chase him and started shooting as the two approached the intersection of 222nd Street and Merrick Boulevard, just two blocks from Titus’ home, police said.
The attacker fired several shots, and Titus was struck once in the torso, police said. The gunman hopped into a waiting getaway car, described by witnesses as a black four-door Honda with tinted windows, police said.
Titus was found two blocks away from the shooting scene outside his home. It was unclear how he made it back there. He was rushed to Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica, where he died about 8:15 p.m., police said.
Titus had a criminal record that included five arrests on narcotics and other charges, police said. The shooting may have been connected to a drug sale, police said.
No arrests were made in the case, and Titus’ family could not be reached for comment.
Titus’ shooting was the second homicide in the 105th Precinct so far this year. The precinct, based in Queens Village and spanning the eastern Queens border from Floral Park to Rosedale, saw 13 murders in 2003 and reported the same number of killings in 2002, according to police statistics.
Reach reporter Courtney Dentch by e-mail at news@timesledger.com, or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 138.
