Local Baseball Star Critically Wounded In Shooting Outside Burger King In Yonkers
YONKERS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A man was critically injured in an apparent drive-by shooting outside a Burger King in Yonkers during the early morning hours on Friday.
Michael Nolan, a 23-year-old standout athlete from Yonkers, was shot in his head and arm while standing near his car outside of the Burger King on Central Avenue at around 12:30 a.m., police said.
"The victim was apparently standing outside with a couple of friends. I think they were eating food they had just purchased," Yonkers Chief of Detectives Timothy Hodges said. "A vehicle drove by and we're told by witnesses that the driver pointed a gun out the window and fired five or six shots in that person's general direction."
Police said the suspect drove off and headed south on Central Avenue. Soon after, an ambulance rushed Nolan from the scene as police worked to collect evidence and shell casings.
Nolan's father, Jimmy Nolan, a carpenter who's had respiratory issues since working at ground zero in the days after 9/11, is devastated and is trying to make sense of why his son was shot.
"Mike's not doing good, he's not ... he has a bullet in the head," he said. " Me and my wife gotta make decisions."
Jimmy Nolan said his son is a 6-foot-8 lefty pitcher with a promising future.
"He's a good kid," he said. "He was drafted by the Oakland A's. He had a full ride to college."
Hodges called Michael Nolan "a friend of the City of Yonkers."
"He's a person of high regard in the city," he said. "We believe this was a very senseless shooting and we're going to do our best to find a suspect."
Police said the shooting appears to be connected to an argument that developed following a drag race on Wednesday night. The Burger King lot is a gathering point for young men with fast cars who race along the Thruway service road, CBS2's Lou Young reported.
"This is not a random shooting," Yonkers Police Chief Charles Garner said.
Cops crack down from time to time but the racing been going on for years, Young reported.
"We've been deploying additional patrols in the area and in the last two months I can tell you we've issued 30 vehicle traffic summons and made one arrest for reckless driving, but we do believe this dispute was somehow associated with drag racing," Garner said.
Police said they are looking for a pale or yellow-colored Honda.
"We have our technical people searching for video by the Burger King and businesses to the south, Macy's," Hodges said. "We're looking at license plate readers, red-light cameras, any video we can find."
Whatever the case, Jimmy Nolan said there's simply too many guns on the streets.
"I don't blame the people who go and get legit guns," he said. "The stop and frisk? You better bring it back."
Anyone with information can contact the Yonkers Police Department Detective Division at 914-377-7724. All calls will remain confidential. Anonymous texts can also be sent by texting the key word ypd plus the tip to 847411.