3 gunmen wanted for attempted murder were in Queens anti-violence center right before the shooting: NYPD

Three suspects in a recent Queens attempted murder had been hanging out right before the incident in a community anti-violence center just one block away from where they shot and wounded a teen, according to police.

Police investigating the attempted murder of a teenager searched the offices of a Jamaica-based anti-violence group for evidence on Friday, video obtained by the Daily News shows and police confirmed.

Tensions are flying high in the video, in which numerous cops can be seen standing around inside the offices of Life Camp, on Sutphin Blvd. in South Jamaica, while the organization’s founder and CEO, Erica Ford, angrily questions why they are there.

“A search warrant for what?” Ford asks several times in the video. “What are you searching for?”

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“I’m asking you not to interfere with the search warrant that we are executing,” Deputy Inspector Sean Claxton, the commander of the 113th Precinct, can be seen saying in the video at one point.

Ford denies that she is attempting to block the search.

“I am not interrupting s—! Get the f—ing police commissioner on the phone!” she shouts midway through the video.

Toward the end of the video police can be seen leaving with what appears to be a computer hard drive.

The NYPD, in a statement, said that the search was related to the attempted murder of a 17-year-old that happened on Tuesday near the Life Camp offices, where gunmen opened fire on the victim on the street.

Cops had initially visited the anti-violence center’s offices trying to obtain information from a log-in book and video footage of the alleged suspects in the attempted murder incident.

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An NYPD spokesperson said police initially visited Life Camp seeking more information after the shooting incident, but were rebuffed and told to get a search warrant.

According to police, the teen victim was shot at by three assailants who approached him on Tuesday around 2:54 p.m. near 123rd Ave. and 147th St. in South Jamaica. He was hit in his left buttocks.

The victim was taken to Cohen’s Children’s Medical Center where he was listed in stable condition.

Before the shooting the three suspects, young males who look to be in their teens or early 20s, were sitting inside Life Camp’s offices talking to each other, according to video released by the NYPD. Cops also released video of the subsequent shooting incident, in which two of the suspects are seen drawing a weapon and firing multiple rounds before fleeing the area.

The police spokesperson confirmed to The News that the three youths seen in the video taken inside Life Camp were involved in the shooting.

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One Life Camp employee was arrested during the execution of the search warrant.

“During the execution of the warrant, a 27-year-old male interfered and was arrested and charged with Obstruction [of] Governmental Administration and Resisting Arrest,” the NYPD statement said.

When reached by phone Friday night, Ford confirmed that police had entered Life Camp’s offices and she said one of her employees was arrested.

“I’m trying to get my employee out of jail,” she said. “I’m speaking with the lawyers now.”

Police said the arrested individual was taken into custody for interfering with the evidence seizure at Life Camp’s offices and was not related to the attempted murder investigation.

The News tried to contact Ford again for comment on Saturday regarding the video of the three suspects inside Life Camp before the shooting, but was unable to reach her.

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Ford founded Life Camp in 2002. The organization, which provides a range of community services aimed at reducing gun violence, including mentoring and after-school programs, received one of the first licenses to operate a retail cannabis dispensary in 2022.

In an Instagram post last week, high-profile activist Ford thanked Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Rev. Al Sharpton and other luminaries for supporting her peace advocacy efforts.