Two people were shot dead in a drive-by shooting in Springfield Gardens Friday afternoon, according to authorities.
Two others in the car, a 4-year-old child and a 28-year-old woman suffered minor injuries when the car overturned and struck a fence next to a JFK Airport in-bound runway, officials said.
Officers from the 105th Precinct rushed to International Airport Center Boulevard, near Rockaway Boulevard and JFK Airport at around 11:50 a.m. on Nov. 20 and found the dark blue Nissan Maxima had struck a fence next to the airport and ended up in high, marshy weeds. The officers found Nair Vives, 26, and Angel Caraballo, 26, suffering unspecified gunshot wounds. The woman and child, apparently the son of the driver, were not hit by the gunfire and were not seriously hurt in the crash, police said.
Vives and Caraballo were pronounced dead on arrival at Jamaica Hospital, investigators said. The woman and child were transported to Cohen’s Children Medical Center, but their injuries were not considered serious, police say.
According to Assistant Chief Reuben Beltran, commander of Queens South, the victims were in the moving Nissan traveling west on Rockaway Boulevard when another unidentified vehicle pulled to the side of the Maxima, possibly from the opposite flow of traffic, and fired at the front passengers, hitting Vives and Caraballo. The attackers in the unidentified vehicle then sped away in an unspecified direction, police said.
Police officials said they believe the woman is the girlfriend of the driver and confirmed the child is the son of the front-seat passenger.
Officials at a press conference this afternoon said the shooting is believed to be gang related, but would not speculate on which gangs were involved. The passenger was said to be on probation for unspecified crimes.
Rockaway Boulevard was closed to traffic in both directions due to the police investigation, causing heavy back-ups.
While there is no description yet on the attacking vehicle, detectives say high-quality surveillance video is being checked at the nearby International Logistics for JFK.
Anyone with information on this fatal shooting is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.
This story originally appeared on amny.com.
This story was updated at 11:40 a.m., on Monday, Nov. 23, 2020.
