But, an unmarked police car just happened to be up the block.
The frightening scene was captured on surveillance cameras, showing the gunman opening fire.
"I heard like maybe four shots, and right after that I was like, 'What was that?'" said Nancy Lazu, an eyewitness.
If you look closely at the surveillance video, you can count the puffs of smoke coming from suspect's gun. All gunshots were fired on a Crown Heights corner on a sunny afternoon.
"We thought it was crazy, like it was just, a woman was on the corner kneeling down scared and it was just shots ringing out from everywhere," said Evangeline Byars, an eyewitness.
Police say 20-year-old Kevon Ferrell is the man in the video with the gun.
Around 2:20 Tuesday afternoon, they say he was standing at corner of Bedford Avenue and Crown Street, and opened fire into parked car across the street.
Witnesses say, the person in the car shot back.
"We have video showing the individual was shooting into a vehicle, officers did hear the shots and responded," Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said.
But an undercover car was also parked on the corner.
In the video, you see it speeding towards Ferrell, and he takes off down the street.
Police say he tossed a .38 caliber handgun gun during the escape attempt.
He turned around, and ran back towards the intersection.
And the unmarked car speeds down a one-way street in reverse, spins around, then takes off after gunman.
"There had to be 40 police officers that came on the scene, they had to hit one of the guys with their car to stop him," Byars said.
Wednesday afternoon, a uniformed NYPD officer stands at the same intersection, a presence to deter a repeat performance.
"It came out of nowhere, you know, I couldn't understand how or why, I've never seen anything so close to my home like that," Lazu said.
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