Officials: Suspect shot dead by Nassau police on Queens street

An investigation by Nassau County police Tuesday afternoon led to a fatal shooting in a busy southeast Queens neighborhood, authorities said. 

Details of the shooting at Linden Boulevard and 217th Street in Cambria Heights were not available late Tuesday night but Nassau police confirmed officers had been conducting an investigation when they shot and killed an individual.

The NYPD, which referred questions to Nassau police, is also investigating, officials said.

On Tuesday night, a four-door sedan, with its driver’s side door open, was on the sidewalk, its damaged front end wedged into the side of a beauty salon on 217th Street, near Linden Boulevard. Nassau police and NYPD officers had blocked off long stretches of Linden Boulevard in an industrial area dotted by businesses.

Witnesses described a chaotic scene with gunshots ringing out on a street crowded with shoppers and rush-hour commuters.

Laron Josephs, 32, of Cambria Heights, said he was leaving a nearby McDonald’s with his 4-year-old daughter when he heard multiple gunshots and saw a crowd move toward the loud bangs. Josephs said he first assumed someone was involved in a car crash.

“I seen a bullet in the door," he said. "I didn’t see anybody inside the car. But by the time I really got to really look, I seen them pulling a person out the car. The person was dead. They laid the person on the ground. … I was just crossing my fingers hoping I didn’t know the person."

Yvette Agosto, 50, of Cambria Heights, said she was cleaning the bathroom of her second-story apartment about 5 p.m. when she heard two loud bangs.

“I heard the shots and I said 'what was that?' ” she said. “My daughter said it was a motorcycle backfire so I let it go. But then I looked out the window and I saw the police cars, the firefighters. They were all coming down the street.”

Agosto said the shooting concerned her because it occurred on a busy block during rush hour.

“There was a lot of people, the commute, going up and down," she said. "Everybody was shopping here. I’ve never seen anything like this.” 

Tiffany Murrell, 38, of Cambria Heights, said her friend often frequents the beauty salon at the scene.

“This does not go down in this neighborhood," she said. "It’s traumatizing.”