By Madina Toure
A livery cab driver was discovered with a gunshot wound to his head inside his car in Astoria early Friday morning, the NYPD said.
The driver, a 37-year-old man, picked up two men and two women in the Bronx and dropped them off at Club Purlieu at 36-04 34th St. in Astoria at about 4:51 a.m., according to a police spokesman.
The passengers went into a club, then came out after a dispute and got into the cab, the spokesman said.
Another individual came out of the club and starting shooting at the car, a black SUV, the spokesman said.
The driver started driving away and ended up hitting parked cars, he added.
When police officers responded to the scene, the car ended up on 35th Street and 37th Avenue and the driver was found with a gunshot wound to his head, the official said.
He was taken to Elmhurst Hospital in critical condition, the spokesman said.
The spokesman could not confirm whether the passengers remained at the scene but said the police had been speaking with them and that no weapons were recovered from the scene.
The motive and the identity of the shooter was not yet known and the investigation was ongoing, the spokesman said.
Reach reporter Madina Toure by e-mail at mtour
