By Oona Milliken | omilliken@queensledger.com

A 19-year old male was shot dead on 79-45 Metropolitan Ave. in the Middle Village on Sunday, July 23 at around 3:30 a.m.

The man, who suffered a gunshot wound to the torso, was found by emergency medical services in a vehicle on the property and was later pronounced deceased at Elmhurst Hospital. A 21-year old who was also involved in the incident was transported to the Brookdale University Hospital with a gunshot wound to the arm but remains in stable condition.

Anthony Deluca, a resident in a building near where the incident took place and a witness to the shooting, said he heard two rounds of shots as he was dozing off on Sunday morning, and looked out the window to see a car pulling away from the scene and a car parked in the middle of the street with the driver side door open.

“I heard boom boom boom boom, and then another burst of gunfire. I went down on my kitchen floor and then I called 911,” Deluca said. “I could see that a little bit of the driver side door was open, and I told the 911 operator, ‘The door’s open, there’s no movement,’ I said, ‘He’s got to be hurt.’”

According to Deluca, there were 50 rounds of ammunition collected by police officers from the scene of the crime on Sunday, several of which hit his own personal vehicle. Deluca said his car has bullet holes through his back windshield that shattered a side window and hit the front steering wheel.

A Middle Village business owner who did not want their name to be shared said the incident is unfortunate but thinks that the neighborhood still remains safe.

“It’s not great for the area, I can tell you that much. It’s just a shame. I think that these were people not from this area, and they created a really bad environment for people,” the business owner said. “I think the neighborhood is still safe, you know, this has never happened before.”

No arrests have been made and the investigation remains ongoing, according to spokespeople from the NYPD.