Two men shot in the head during robbery at Flushing, Queens gambling den: police sources
Dec 20, 2024
Two men were shot in the head during a botched robbery at an illegal gambling den in Queens, police sources said Friday.
Cops were called to the rear of an address on Haight St. near 41st Ave. in Flushing at about 9:20 p.m. Thursday, where they found a 37-year-old shot in the head.
EMS rushed the victim to NY-Presbyterian Queens, where he remained in critical condition on Friday.
At about the same time, a 42-year-old man showed up at the same hospital with a bullet wound to his cheek, cops said. Investigators determined that he and the other victim were together in the gambling joint when they were both shot by the robber, according to a police source with knowledge of the case.
Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily NewsPolice investigate after two men were shot on Haight Street in Flushing. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
After the bullets stopped flying, the older victim ran from the scene and took himself to NY-Presbyterian Queens for treatment, cops said.
Three Hispanic men were seen running from the scene after the shooting, police said. The men jumped into a white SUV with front-end damage and ran off.
No arrests have been made. Cops were scouring the area for surveillance footage that could help them identify the shooters.
On Friday police had cordoned off most of the block in the heavily Asian community. Cops could be seen entering a café with Anime images papering the front windows.
“There are a few underground gambling … rooms around this block,” said a neighborhood cabinet maker who didn’t want to give his name. “I think this happens a lot. It’s just only this time people were shot.”
Other Flushing residents told the Daily News that illegal gambling halls were an open secret, but violence at these places was a rarity, they said.
“It really makes people terrified,” an area worker said about the double shooting.
“When I saw [the cops] locking down the street, I just told my co-worker this morning, ‘I’m planning to move out,'” the cabinet maker said. “I even texted my landlords, ‘I probably will move out in two months,’ because this street right here is dangerous.
“This place is crazy right now,” he said.