NYPD School Safety Agent Mye Johnson Killed In Triple Shooting Outside Queens Club
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A woman was killed and two others were hurt Thursday in a triple shooting outside a club in Queens. Police said 27-year-old Mye Johnson, an NYPD school safety agent, died.
The shooting happened around 4 a.m. in Astoria. The scene on Steinway Street near Astoria Boulevard remained blocked by police tape for hours, CBS2's Leah Mishkin reported.
"I heard like five (shots), probably. Like, 'Pow, pow, pow, pow,'" said Alex Kyriakides.
At first, Kyriakides thought the noise was traffic on the overpass. Later, he learned three people were shot.
"It's terrible. I mean no one wants to see the loss of life," he said. "It's really sad. I hope it's not a reflection of the neighborhood as a whole."
According to police, Johnson and two friends, a man and a woman, were out celebrating her birthday when an argument broke out outside the club.
"Multiple persons fired shots and the three victims were struck," said NYPD Deputy Chief Julie Morrill.
Watch NYPD Update On Astoria Triple Shooting
There was no immediate word on what the argument was about. Police were also investigating if the two sides knew each other.
Johnson, who has a 7-year-old son, was pronounced dead at the hospital. Her friends were hospitalized in stable condition.
"Especially troubling since it's a couple of days before Christmas. We are currently visiting with the family and giving them as much support as we possibly can," said Deputy Chief Lola Obe.
Johnson started working in school safety in 2017. She had been out on medical leave for personal reasons since July 2020.
Today, we tragically lost one of our School Safety Agents, SSA Mye Johnson. The entire School Safety Division sends thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of Mye. #NeverForget pic.twitter.com/Dl8Bl4b13V
— NYPD School Safety (@NYPDSchools) December 23, 2021
"Very young, it's unfortunate. The whole situation is unfortunate," said Sorel Ramirez, who manages a veterinary clinic near the scene.
Ramirez said he was unable to get into his office Thursday morning because of the investigation.
"Our employees, myself, our clients are safe. Now the next level of that is how we are going to take care of the animals that we have in the hospital. They need to be medically taken care of, they need to be fed," he said.
Police later let Ramirez enter his clinic to care for the animals.
"It's on and on and on and on. So it's scary, no question about that," Ramirez said. "You wake up in the morning thinking do I go to work, do I take the train, do I get slashed, do I get shot? Do I get pushed into the tracks? It's just terrible."
Ramirez, who's lived in Astoria for 35 years, said he never saw this kind of violence before the COVID pandemic.
"It's terrible. Of course this is the times where we live. It's all this violence, it's all this anxiety. It's all this turmoil, and people have no respect for life anymore," he said.
So far, no arrests have been made.
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
CBS2's Leah Mishkin contributed to this report.