By Ivan Pereira
One man was killed and another injured in a double shooting Friday morning that took place on a quiet block in Springfield Gardens.
Officers were alerted to a call of gunshots fired at a house at 144th Avenue and 181st Street and found two men inside the home’s basement with gunshot wounds, police said.
One of the victims, an unidentified 29−year−old, was found dead from a gunshot wound to the face and neck while the second man, an unidentified 23−year−old, was rushed to Jamaica Hospital with a wound to his torso in stable condition, according to police.
Catherine Lewis, who lives near the house where the shooting took place, said the neighborhood does not have any problems with violence or shootings, and when she heard the gunshots, she thought it came from traffic on South Conduit Avenue, which feeds into the Belt Parkway.
“I heard the noise, but it was near the Conduit, so I thought I heard cars backfiring,” she said.
Relatives who came to the two−story house spoke with police, but did not comment about the incident. A .38−caliber gun was found at the scene of the crime, according to investigators.
No arrests were made as of press time Tuesday and the investigation was ongoing, police said.
Lewis, who has lived on the block for 34 years, said the people who occupied the house where the murder took place moved in about two years ago and kept to themselves.
“Right around here, it’s very quiet,” she said.
This is the second murder to occur this year within the jurisdiction of the 105th Precinct, which covers Laurelton, Queens Village, Rosedale, Cambria Heights, Springfield Gardens, Bellerose, Glen Oaks, New Hyde Park and Floral Park.
Although police statistics show murders have dropped 50 percent from the same period last year, overall major crime in the precinct has held steady with 676 crimes reported this year so far compared to 675 during the same period last year.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e−mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 146.
