Detectives at the 114th Precinct Squad are continuing their search for two brazen gunmen who opened fire at a Long Island City liquor store on April 7, killing a 37-year-old local man.
Law enforcement sources told the Gazette that investigators interviewed a person of interest in the case, but have made no arrests in the shootings.
Cops said Skaka Ryan was one of two people inside Solomon Liquors at 24-14 34th Ave. at about 7:15 p.m. on April 7 when the two gunmen approached and opened fire, striking Ryan three times in the head, torso and left leg.
The gunmen, described as Black, approximately 6-feet-tall and 180 pounds, fled in a silver Honda Odyssey that was waiting at the curb. Both suspects were wearing black hoodies, blue jeans and sneakers at the time of the shooting, police said.
Ryan, who lived with family at an apartment at the nearby Ravenswood Houses at 23-03 36th Ave., was taken to Mount Sinai Queens hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.
The shooting sent shockwaves through the commercial strip that is no stranger to gun violence.
Solomon Liquors is located several storefronts from Crescent Chemists, the site of a February 2011 shooting that killed a 32-year-old mother of two young boys.
Alexander Figueroa, 38, used a Valentine’s Day bouquet to lure his estranged wife to speak with him inside the pharmacy on Feb. 10, 2011. The young woman took a few moments from her job at the pharmacy to talk to Figueroa.
Moments later, Figueroa opened fire on Guimmia Villa, shooting the young mother in the head. Villa was pronounced dead at the scene.
Figueroa climbed through broken, bloody glass at the store entrance to flee the scene. He fled to his apartment at the Ravenswood Houses on 36th Avenue where he shot and killed himself, leaving behind a tearful confession.
“We don’t know what to do,” a local homeowner told the Gazette. “We were sitting, watching television when we heard a ‘pop, pop, pop’ and realized it was gunshots.
“What are we supposed to do now? Are we supposed to move?” the homeowner said.
Shoppers stood in clusters along 34th Avenue on Saturday evening, visibly shaken by this second incident of fatal gun violence.
“I guess it’s time to walk a few blocks more to shop,” one woman said. “I stopped into a store with my kids to pick up a few things,” she said. “And all of a sudden there was noise, people were screaming and running around. It’s scary,” she declared. “What do I tell my kids?”
Police hit the streets searching the neighborhood for clues on Easter Sunday. Uniformed cops patrolled the area in NYPD vehicles, while detectives continued to comb the area for clues leading to the suspects.
Cops are urging anyone with information to call the NYPD Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS or click on www.nypdcrimestoppers.com.
The Hotline is offering a $2,000 reward to anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspects.
