By Ivan Pereira
Police were looking for whoever killed a man and wounded a woman in a barrage of at least a dozen bullets early Monday morning in New Hyde Park.
Around 3 a.m., officers responded to a call of shots fired in front of a dentist’s office at 271st Street and Union Turnpike and when they arrived found the victims inside a parked black Jeep vehicle that had multiple gunshots in its windshield, trunk and windows, police said.
One of the suspects, whom the New York Post identified as Lemaria Rennalds, 30, of St. Albans, was shot twice in the chest and once in the leg, according to investigators. Despite being only three blocks from North Shore LIJ Hospital, he was taken to Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, L.I., but he was pronounced dead when he arrived there, police said.
The second victim, described only as a 20-year-old black woman, was rushed to LIJ with multiple gunshots to her leg and was listed in stable condition, according to investigators.
For the rest of the morning, officers blocked off the street to residents and motorists as they tried to find clues as to what had happened. Neighbors who live near the crime scene said they did not hear the gunshots and did not know where the car came from.
The Post reported that the pair had left a party outside a restaurant on Union Turnpike just before they were killed.
Several businesses located around the scene of the shooting were not open during the time of the incident and the owners said they did not know what happened.
No suspects had been arrested or identified as of press time and the investigation was ongoing, according to police. The roughly 16 gunshots appeared to have come from the sidewalk of Union Turnpike.
More than a week ago, a similar shooting took place in South Jamaica.
Willie Cobb, 28, and an unidentified woman were shot and killed while the pair were traveling in a minivan near 153rd Street and 106th Avenue. There have been no arrests in that case either, police said.
Anyone with information is urged to call Crimestoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS, text their tips to 274637 then enter TIP577 or log on to nypdcrimestoppers.com. All reports will be kept confidential.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
