By Rebecca Henely
A bread truck driver from Elmhurst was shot in the head and killed Friday while making his rounds through Brooklyn, police sources said. Police are unsure if the bullet that killed the man, Jorge Martinez, was intended for him or not.
Police said Martinez, 39, was shot while driving down Avenue X in front of No. 65 at around 10:35 p.m. After he was hit, his truck careened off the road, knocking down a fence and striking a parked car and a streetlight, police said.
There were no arrests as of press time and police said they did not believe the shot was intentional. The investigation was still ongoing.
The New York Post said neighbors in the area heard the shots and called in 911.
“I heard five shots,” resident Mileni Quesada told the Post. “Then I heard somebody screaming for help. Sometimes I hear drunk people yelling out here, but that screaming, it was like a pain scream. I knew something was wrong.”
Police said Martinez was found with two shots to the head. Emergency Medical Services responded and brought the victim to Coney Island Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival, police said.
A source told the Post the shooter might have fired from the top of a nearby Marlboro Houses building, where 9mm shell casings were found on the roof and the shooter was believed to have hit another car parked nearby. It was not known if the casings matched the bullet that killed Martinez or struck the car nor whether Martinez was the shooter’s intended target, the Post said.
A resident of the area who wished to remain anonymous told the Post the sound of gunshots is common in the neighborhood.
“When I hear shots, I tell my kids to get away from the window,” she said. “I feel bad for the guy, but this is what goes on here.”
Jennifer Martinez, the 16-year-old daughter of Jorge Martinez, said in an interview with the newspaper that her father had worried for his safety in the past and would pray before leaving on his 10 p.m. to 9 a.m. delivery shift every night.
“He always said he was scared something would happen while he was driving and he’d leave us,” she told the Post.
Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at rhenely@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
