By Alex Robinson
Police said they caught up with an armed man fleeing from the scene of a double shooting at the Astoria Houses last Thursday afternoon after the car he was riding in slammed into another vehicle several blocks away.
Valley Stream, L.I., resident Shannon Smith, 34, was arrested and charged with attempted murder, assault, criminal possession of a weapon, reckless endangerment, resisting arrest and possession of a stolen .45-caliber Ruger handgun after the 4:30 p.m. shooting, the NYPD said.
An NYPD lieutenant along with two police officers from the Queens North Conditions Unit had been on patrol in an unmarked car when shots rang out in front of 27-10 8th St., according to cops.
A 15-year-old boy had been shot in his shoulder and a 30-year-old man had been struck in his torso and leg.
After police arrived on the scene, the officers spotted Smith, who ran away and jumped into the passenger side of a black 1999 Acura that had been stopped at the corner of 27th Avenue and 8th Street with another man behind the wheel, police said.
The Acura sped off, allegedly blew through a stop sign and hit another vehicle at the intersection of 26th Avenue and 21st Street, according to the NYPD and a criminal complaint filed by the Queens district attorney.
The men took off on foot, but police were able to catch up with Smith and place him under arrest, according to cops. Smith had been carrying on his ankle a semiautomatic .45-caliber Ruger handgun loaded with three rounds when he was apprehended, according to the court document.
Emergency responders brought both the 15-year-old, who was in stable condition, and the 30-year-old, who was listed in critical but stable condition, to Elmhurst Hospital, the NYPD and the FDNY said.
A witness told the Queens DA’s office that the 15-year-old had been struck while running from the shooting scene, according to the complaint.
Police said the investigation into the shooting was ongoing.
