NYPD investigating 2 deadly shootings, as department launches summer violence prevention
NEW YORK -- Police are investigating two major shootings over the weekend, just as the NYPD begins a new anti-crime initiative.
One man was killed in Forest Hills, Queens, the other died on the Upper West Side.
Surveillance video captured the final moments of 45-year-old Zhi Wen Yan's life before police said he was gunned down around 9:30 p.m. Saturday in the middle of a residential neighborhood on 108th Street.
Officers said a man shot the delivery worker in the chest, then got back in a light-colored vehicle and took off.
Yan's grieving widow said her husband was a hardworking father of three.
"They told me, 'Your husband died.' I told them they are lying. My heart broke into pieces. I told him, 'Please stand up and come home with me,'" Kun Ying Zhao told CBS2 through a translator.
She said they had just opened a laundromat to help provide for their children.
Then around noon Sunday, 27-year-old Ronald Thomas, of Glen Allen, Virginia, was shot in the head on West 102nd Street near Amsterdam Avenue. He was found unconscious inside a white Mercedes SUV with shattered windows.
Neighbors at NYCHA's Frederick Douglass Houses said they heard five to six gunshots.
"When is this going to stop? When is somebody going to do something?" one woman cried.
Officers said the motive was likely a dispute over a woman.
"They from out of town. It was a spat, an argument. And then somebody came and shot him. That's all I know," said Carmen Quinnones, tenant association president.
Over the weekend, Mayor Eric Adams met with commanding officers from all 77 precincts to discuss the NYPD's Summer Violence Reduction Plan to fight crime. Each borough now has a violence reduction coordinator, so they can deploy police and resources faster.
In 40 precincts citywide, the plan is to add more officers and modify shifts to begin three hours earlier.
"I think that's great, Put more people on the street, more undercover in the subway station. It's getting out of hand," one resident said.
"I think there is more that can be done, maybe more meetings with the community leaders to understand exactly what's driving the crime, where is it rooted," another person added.
Investigators are still looking for the shooter in both incidents. 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.