By Rebecca Henely
A man and a woman were found shot dead in a running car early Thursday morning on Woodward Avenue near Willoughby Avenue in Ridgewood in what was believed by neighbors to be a homicide.
“It’s a shame, you know,” said Steven Chee, 73, of Willoughby Avenue. “It’s a shame.”
Police had no comment Thursday afternoon and would not confirm any information beyond the fact that an incident occurred at the spot that morning.
Chee said he had been parking his car on Woodward Avenue around 9:45 a.m. when another woman on the street alerted him to a maroon sedan by the side of the road that had its engine running and its lights and right side blinker on. Inside a man and a woman lay slumped in the front seats. The woman on the street asked Chee if he had a cell phone to call 911. As soon as Chee got off the phone, police had arrived.
The man and woman inside the car were both Caucasian, Chee said. The man, who was shot in the back of the head, looked to be about 35 to 40 years old, and the woman 30 to 35 years old. Chee could not see where she had been shot.
“The two people were very young, in the prime of life,” Chee said.
A source confirmed surveillance video taken from a nearby house revealed a third person exiting the car.
A neighbor who lives on Starr Street, who has lived there for 14 years, said this kind of crime was unusual for the area.
“It’s pretty quiet,” the neighbor said. “It’s pretty nice. It’s not the greatest neighborhood, but I’ve never seen nothing like this around my house.”
Chee said, who has lived in the area since 1990, said the incident made him feel unsafe.
“I feel there should be more police patrols in the neighborhood,” he said.
Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at rhenely@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
