CBS2 Exclusive: Victim Speaks After Being Shot By Fake UPS Deliveryman In Queens
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A holiday hoax ended with a Queens father in the hospital with a gunshot wound, and the search was on late Thursday for two gunman who police said posed as UPS drivers.
The shooting happened on 24th Street in Astoria, Queens around 10 a.m. Thursday.
Police said when the suspects came to the building, they rang every apartment until someone buzzed them inside. They then knocked on the first door they saw as they claimed to be deliverymen, and initially, the victim said he noticed nothing out of the ordinary until he opened the door.
CBS2's Ali Bauman spoke exclusively with the victim Thursday night. Mohibul Islam feels like life gave him a second chance, as the 53-year-old father thought he was going to die after opening his apartment door for the men who said they were UPS workers.
"I asked, 'Who is this?' He says, 'UPS,' and when I open the door, he pushed the door and came in and put the gun at my head and said, 'I'm going to shoot you.'" Islam said.
Police said the suspect hit Islam in the head with the gun and the shot him in the leg.
"Then my mom ran out of the bed and out the door and she went to the third floor, and they called 911," said the victim's 'son, Showad Islam.
Showad, 10, was at school when the incident happened Thursday morning. But he relayed his mother's experience, since she was too distraught to say much about it.
Police said the suspects dropped what turned out to be empty boxes they had brought with them as props, leaving Islam to bleed on the hallway floor until an ambulance arrived.
Islam awoke in the hospital, grateful.
"I give thanks to God," he said. "God saved me."
Video from Chopper 2 showed police escorting residents out of the building.
As CBS2's Erin Logan reported, they experienced a serious scare.
"The guy said, 'someone shot me, call police," Labiba Choudhury said.
"We heard the shoot and the screaming, help, help," Sherif Roby added.
When asked if they stole anything, Islam said, "No, nothing -- I'm surprised."
When asked why someone would do such a thing, Islam said: "I don't know. He don't take anything. He don't ask nothing."
Police late Thursday said they were reviewing surveillance images of the suspects, who they believe drove away in a car with a Connecticut license plate.
Islam was set to spend Thursday night in the hospital awaiting surgery.
