Man killed in shooting outside church in Queens; police searching for suspect
A funeral service had just ended when gunfire erupted
JAMAICA, Queens (WABC) -- Police are searching for the suspect who shot and killed a man outside a church in Jamaica, Queens, on Friday.
It happened near a park outside a church at Merrick Boulevard and Sayres Avenue around 2:20 p.m.
The 49-year-old victim, identified by police as Richard Carter, was shot multiple times in the torso by a man who fled the scene on a CitiBike.
Witnesses say there was a funeral service just wrapping up, and about 25 people coming out of the church at the time of the shooting.
Eyewitness News spoke to a limo driver who was sitting in his vehicle two cars behind the hearse. He said he was waiting for family of the deceased to exit the church, and that's when gun shots went off.
"I was on my way inside the church and I was taking my coat off to throw inside the limo - and soon as I took my coat I heard pow! Pow, pow, pow, pow! I was like what the heck? And I looked and I looked at the hearse and I saw a guy laying on the ground bouncing from side to side. And I was like oh my God! I ran behind the limo to go inside the church," driver Eric Fairchild said.
Fairchild was supposed to drive the family of the deceased home. His limo was parked only a couple of cars behind the hearse.
The bullets were fired just as the funeral service wrapped up and crowds began exiting the church.
The driver said he doesn't know if the victim was part of the service.
"My heart was pounding because of the fact I'm saying I hope a stray bullet doesn't come my way I didn't know which way they were shooting him from. I just saw him on the ground. I didn't know where that was coming from so I was just panicking trying to get off the sidewalk," Fairchild said.
The victim was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
Police say the suspect was last seen wearing a DKNY jacket, a colorful sweatshirt, orange sneakers and fled northbound on 170th Street.
The family did not even have a chance to bury their loved one before another life was taken.
"As I'm trying to help take care of one family member that's already gone - and a friend of his gets killed here at his service. That was crazy," a family member said.
It's not clear if the victim was the intended target.
No arrests have been made, and the investigation is ongoing.
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