Editor’s note: Police on Tuesday described all four victims as innocent bystanders. On Wednesday, however, NYPD officials said that it’s now believed that one of the four was the shooting’s intended target. The story below has been updated to reflect this new information.
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OZONE PARK, Queens (PIX11) — Four people — including two teenagers — were injured in a shooting at a park in Queens Tuesday evening, NYPD officials said, describing three of the victims as innocent bystanders.
The shooting happened in the Ozone Park neighborhood at London Planetree Playground around 6:15 p.m., police said.
Two people got out of a car and opened fired at a person who returned gunfire at them, police said. Four people inside the park were struck. Police on Tuesday described all four of those struck as innocent bystanders, but officials said Wednesday that it had been determined that one of the four was the intended target.
A 15-year-old girl was shot in the leg, a 16-year-old boy was shot in the back, a 20-year-old man was shot twice in the leg and a 32-year-old man was shot in the leg, NYPD officials said. All four victims were hospitalized in stable condition. Police did not specify which of the victims was believed to be the intended target.
Sam Esposito, the head of the Ozone Park Residents Block Association, was told by witnesses that the suspects sped away in a black car after the shooting. Two of the suspects were wearing ski masks, the witnesses said.
“I live a block away. We came out of the house and we saw the kids and the families running by screaming and the kids were crying. We raced over here to see what happened. We saw four shot,” Esposito said.
Esposito said the shooting was “undoubtedly gang related.”
So far, no arrests have been made. Investigators were working on collecting surveillance video from the area. London Planetree Playground was taped off while detectives gathered evidence.
Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).