By Patrick Donachie
Southeast Queens was the site of a shooting death and a potential homicide in recent days and police were seeking suspects or witnesses to the incidents.
At 11:42 p.m. on Sept. 10, police from the 105th Precinct responded to a call about a car that was on fire in the public parking area of Idlewild Park, located near the corner of 224th Street and 149th Avenue. FDNY firefighters were already on the scene, attempting to extinguish the fire.
When the fire was put out, the first responders made a gruesome discovery. They found the body of an unidentified adult male, who was significantly burned, in the trunk of the car. EMS workers responded but pronounced the man dead at the scene.
A spokeswoman for the office of the chief medical examiner said the determination of a cause of death was still pending, although the commanding officer of the 105th Precinct called the incident a homicide, saying it was the first one of the year for the precinct. The commanding officer said it was unlikely the man was killed within the confines of the precinct, but the fact that the body was found there makes the 105th the precinct of record.
About an hour before the burning car was found, police from the 113th Precinct responded to a call of a suspicious vehicle at 124-08 153rd St., near the edge of Baisley Pond Park.
There they found an unidentified man with a gunshot wound to the back of his head in a white Lexus sedan. The engine was still running. EMS workers responded and pronounced the man dead at the scene.
Police were continuing to investigate both incidents and no arrests had been made as of press time.
Reach reporter Patrick Donachie by e-mail at pdona
