Cops release images of suspects wanted in bizarre Queens home invasion
Detectives on Saturday released surveillance images of a group of men who shot a 31-year-old Queens man during a bizarre early-morning raid on the victim’s home, police said.
Cops said six men tried to get into a second floor apartment of a 62nd Ave. address near 138th St. — just two blocks from Cedar Grove Cemetery in Flushing — about 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday. The suspects were caught on the home’s Ring doorbell surveillance camera, which they destroyed, as they approached the front door, cops said.
Some of the thieves tried to climb through a window, but the victim began shoving them back out, police said. As he did so, one of the suspects pulled a gun and opened fire, hitting him in the chest and left elbow.
EMS rushed the victim to NY Presbyterian-Queens, where he was expected to recover.
The victim was trying to protect his roommates, a young couple who lived in the same apartment told the Daily News.
“One guy broke the window to let the other guys in the apartment,” a roommate said. The woman, fearing reprisals from the thieves, didn’t want to be identified. “Our friend tried to push out the guy when he was shot. He just tried to protect us. He was bleeding. We were shouting ‘Call the cops!’”
The suspects fled the scene with $800 that they stole from a downstairs apartment where they confronted and threatened a family with a small child, cops and neighbors said.
Several of the suspects fled the scene in a dark-colored SUV.
The thieves dressed in dark-colored clothing with hoods and either wore surgical masks or had their shirts pulled up above their noses, the surveillance video shows.
It was not immediately disclosed why the home was targeted.
Cops released the surveillance images in the hopes that someone recognizes the thieves. Anyone with information regarding their whereabouts is urged to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
