A man died after rolling his car over and smashing into several others in the Bronx, police said, but it may not have been the crash that killed him: He had been shot shortly beforehand.
The incident occurred just before 5 p.m. in the Kingsbridge neighborhood, leaving behind a mangled mess of a car on Sedgwick Avenue. The driver, a 29-year-old man, was initially behind the wheel of a dark sedan at a gas station on the Major Deegan Expressway when the shots rang out, with at least one bullet striking him in the back, according to police sources.
While injured, the man drove north on Maclean Avenue where he did a U-turn and went south on the highway before he made it to Sedgwick Avenue. The driver then careened into multiple cars parked along the street, and the vehicle turned over by the end.
"Bystanders helped to get the vehicle up on its wheels, after that they tried to pull him out. And they couldn’t get him out of the car," said a witness, who only wished to be identified as David.
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First responders arrived shortly after, but the man died at the hospital, police said.
Investigators are searching for the shooter and working to determine if the man behind wheel was the intended target. No other injuries were reported.
This comes on the heels of another similar incident that took place Sunday in Queens shortly before 10 p.m.
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Police that night responded to a call of a crash in the area of 37th Avenue and Parsons Boulevard. The preliminary investigation determined that a 2022 BMW was traveling westbound when the driver struck the sidewalk, causing the vehicle to roll over. The driver of the vehicle, 25-year-old Tao Wu, was taken to New York Health & Hospitals/Queens, where he was later pronounced dead.
However, the ongoing investigation revealed that the driver suffered a gunshot wound to the upper back before the crash, police said Tuesday, now deeming the incident a homicide.
No arrests have been mande. The investigation continues.