Police from the 102nd Precinct in Richmond Hill are looking for a gunman and his accomplice who walked into a smoke shop at 119-11 Jamaica Ave. and began to argue with a store worker before shooting him multiple times on the night of Monday, Aug. 5.
The two suspects entered Sky High Exotic beneath the elevated J train at 10:40 p.m. and engaged in a verbal dispute with the 34-year-old man behind the counter.
One of the assailants pulled out a handgun and fired several shots, striking the victim multiple times in the body, police said. The suspects ran out of the store and were last seen running down Jamaica Avenue.
EMS responded to the crime scene and rushed the victim to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was listed in critical but stable condition.
The NYPD released surveillance images of the two suspects and described them as having dark complexions. One wore a tan baseball cap, eyeglasses, a dark-colored t-shirt with a white design on the front, dark-colored pants, black sneakers and a black fanny pack slung over his shoulder. The second suspect wore a black baseball cap, eyeglasses, a blue t-shirt, gray sweatpants and white sneakers.
A reward of up to $3,500 is being offered for information that leads to their arrest.
Anyone with information regarding this assault 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 200 felony assaults so far in 2024, 26 fewer than the 226 reported at the same point last year, a decline of 11.5%, according to the most recent CompStat report. Shooting incidents are up in the precinct with 7 reported so far this year, two more than the five reported at the same point in 2023, an increase of 40%, according to CompStat.
