NYPD searching for teen gunman after driver shot and killed in St. Albans

ByLindsay Tuchman WABC logo
Wednesday, September 18, 2024
Family of driver shot and killed in Queens holds candle-lit vigil
Sonia Rincon has reaction from the family of 66-year-old William Alcindor.

ST. ALBANS, Queens (WABC) -- Police have released images of the suspected teen gunman that allegedly shot and killed a man as he drove a car in Queens.

It happened on Farmer's Boulevard and 117th Road in the St. Albans section around 4:50 p.m. Monday.

Officials say a wild chain of events led up to the deadly shooting and crash that also injured a pedestrian.

Surveillance video shows a chaotic scene as shots rang out. A discrepancy between the groups took place and then they scattered across the block.

Police say the suspected shooter is between 16 and 18 years old and was with at least two other people at the time of the shooting.

In the melee, a stray bullet struck the victim in the head as he approached the intersection. That shot caused the man to slam into a nearby building, which housed a vacant business.

A 23-year-old woman was struck by the car and suffered a leg injury. She is expected to recover.

William Alcindor, 66, of Cambria Heights was shot in the head. He was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The family of Alcindor gathered at the candle-lit crime scene, sharing memories of the man who loved his family, still struggling to understand what happened.

"Never can I remember William being angry about anything at all, he always is so kind," his sister Jaqueline Nicolas said.

Alcindor's family says he was a hardworking, loving father of three who moved into their mother's home to take care of her.

The 66-year-old was heading to a delivery while at work when he was shot.

His family is now urging people with information to come forward.

"I want them to get the full max penalty, there's no, if you are old enough to have a gun and want to shoot people, guess what? You got to suffer the consequences, OK?" Nicolas said.

"We need to set into the minds of the little kids all over America that guns are bad. That guns are not like video games," said the victim's brother Fitzgerald Alcindor.

Community members said violence in the area is all too common.

"My mom and I call it fight club. The kids come out of the school after hours and they fight each other in the street," an area resident told Eyewitness News.

"I grew up at a time when, we had issues, we solved them with each other," said the victim's son Williamson Alcindor. "I'm not saying we never fought. We did. But there were no guns. We fought. We got we got our beatings and we move on. You grew up. You got stronger. Now you're afraid of a 14-year-old, a 12-year-old, because you don't know."

No other arrests have been made as the investigation continues -- but the violence in the community did not stop there.

There were two more shootings on Tuesday, only few blocks from Monday's crime scene.

Police are looking for a woman on a scooter they say took off after shooting a 21-year-old man in the back Tuesday afternoon on 197th Street.

Then in a separate incident, someone shot the 74-year-old owner of a food truck in the leg in what may have been a dispute at Farmers and Merrick boulevards.

The motives in the shootings on Tuesday are also still under investigation, but both of those victims are expected to survive.

ALSO READ | Grandfather suing after claiming Nassau County police wrongfully arrested him, used excessive force

Stacey Sager reports from Hempstead.

----------

* More Queens news

* Send us a news tip

* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts

* Follow us on YouTube

Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News

Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.