Sept. 13, 2023 By Bill Parry
A delivery worker was shot during a road rage incident on a residential stretch of Steinway Street in Astoria on Tuesday evening and the gunman and his two associates behind the shooting remain at large, according to the NYPD.
Police from the 114th Precinct in Astoria report that the delivery worker was riding his moped in front of 21-16 Steinway St., a half block north of Ditmars Boulevard, just after 8 p.m. when a red Mini Cooper pulled up alongside him. A man in the back seat of the vehicle began arguing with the 28-year-old victim and got out of the car, pulled out a handgun and fired a shot that struck the delivery worker in the right arm above his elbow, according to an NYPD spokesperson.
Upon further investigation, a witness came forward and told officers from the 114th Precinct that the red Mini Cooper was occupied by two women in the front seats and the gunman jumped into the vehicle, which headed southbound on Steinway Street toward Ditmars Boulevard, according to law enforcement sources.
EMS responded to the crime scene and rushed the victim to Elmhurst Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition, police said.
The gunman was wearing a black facemask and a black T-shirt, according to authorities. There have been no arrests and the shooting incident remains under investigation.
Through Sept. 3, the 114th Precinct has reported 19 shooting incidents so far in 2023, five more than the 14 cases reported at the same point last year, which is an increase of 35.7 %, according to the NYPD’s most recent CompStat report.