By Connor Adams Sheets
Police were searching for a black man wearing a red hat who shot a 20-year-old man in the heel on the streets of Queensboro Hill Friday after the two were kicked out of a bar for having an alcohol-fueled altercation, the authorities said.
An employee of the bar, the College Green Pub at 59-18 Kissena Blvd., said a dispute broke out at about 1 a.m. and the men involved in the shooting were asked to leave at that time. The men then returned to the area at 2:15 a.m. and exchanged gunfire both in front of the bar and at the intersection of 60th Avenue and Kissena Boulevard, Police Lt. John Grimpel said.
“There was a disagreement in the bar about an hour prior to the altercation,” the employee said. “One of the men was being disruptive inside the bar, somewhat harassing the bartender and also the DJ. The perps were in the bar and were asked to leave, but there was no apparent threat of violence at that time. They had been gone from the bar for a long while before the shooting happened.”
There had been no arrests in the shooting as of Monday evening, Grimpel said.
Neither Grimpel nor the employee had information about why the dispute broke out between the two men. They returned with at least one gun, Grimpel said, and nine bullet casings were found at the scenes of the shooting, most of which were found at the intersection. Grimpel could not confirm how many guns were used, but the bar employee said he believed that at least two men discharged bullets. A parked car was struck in the driver’s-side door by a stray bullet, Grimpel said.
The employee said the pub is a laid-back establishment that attracts a respectable crowd.
Grimpel said he thought drinking probably played a part in the incident, and the employee said the men had been drinking. Police said the victim was uncooperative with police at the time of his arrest.
After the 20-year-old man was shot, he was taken to North Shore University Hospital in Forest Hills, where he was declared to be in stable condition, according to Grimpel.
Anyone with information the shooting should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-8477 or submit tips to nypdcrimestoppers.com.
Reach reporter Connor Adams Sheets by e-mail at csheets@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.
