Four young men were shot and wounded, one critically, when another man approached the group they were with on Tuesday afternoon and started firing, police said.
The NYPD said the wounded were in a large group on 21st Avenue in Queens around 4:45 p.m., when a blue Jeep pulled up and another man got out and displayed a weapon.
Police said the man started shooting before getting back into the vehicle and fleeing the scene at Astoria's Ravenswood Houses. The injured included a 21-year-old man shot in the head, who was clinging to life at the hospital.
An 18-year-old and a 17-year-old were shot in the back, and a 19-year-old was shot in the leg. One witness said they heard about eight shots and a little girl scream, before seeing the group of men run.
None of the other three injuries were considered life-threatening, police said, and an investigation was ongoing while police search for the shooter. Investigators said he jumped into the back of the Jeep and took off, speeding away on 36th Avenue.
Shootings have escalated in the city in recent months.
Over the most recent weekend, 51 people were shot, with six of them dying. On the same weekend last year, that number was 8 people shot, with five people killed.
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It was not the only shooting in the city Tuesday night. A 26-year-old was shot and killed in Brooklyn after a shooting around 7 p.m. The victim was shot in the head and later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Another man was rushed to Harlem Hospital after being shot following a verbal dispute in Washington Heights just after 8 p.m., police said. His injuries were not considered life-threatening.
