A 34-year-old man was critically wounded on Monday night after a gunman shot him eight times in front of a Richmond Hill smoke shop.
The victim was with a woman who got into a verbal dispute with the suspect inside Sky High Exotic at 119-11 Jamaica Ave. at around 10:30 p.m., when the alleged gunman followed her out onto the street.
The man ran to her defense when the perpetrator reached into a fanny pack, pulled out a handgun and opened fire, striking the victim eight times in various parts of his body, according to an NYPD spokeswoman. The gunman and another man first fled westbound on Jamaica Avenue before running southbound on Lefferts Boulevard.
Police from the 102nd Precinct responded to a 911 call and found the victim lying on the sidewalk. EMS responded to the location and rushed the victim to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition. An eyewitness told detectives that two men ran off following the shooting but could not provide a description of the suspects, who remain at large.
Anyone with information regarding this investigation 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 Crime Stoppers website at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
Through Aug. 4, the 102nd Precinct has reported seven shooting incidents so far in 2024, two more than the five reported at the same point last year, an increase of 40%, according to the most recent CompStat report.
