A driver was fatally shot in the head in Queens on Monday, a blast that sent his out-of-control vehicle careening into a woman crossing an intersection before crashing into a building, police said.
The horrific crackup unfolded around 4 p.m., when the 66-year-old driver, William Alcindor, was going through the intersection at 117th Road and Farmers Blvd. in St. Albans just as a bullet struck him the head, according to police, setting off the horrific chain of events.
“I heard the bang. It was the car crashing into the building across the street,” said Roberto Tendilla, 32, manager of A&E supermarket near the intersection. “It was crazy. I’ve never seen anything like it in the 17 years I’ve worked here.”
Multiple witnesses said the driver may not have been the intended target of the gunshot, but rather was hit by a stray bullet fired by someone in a group of teenagers fighting in the parking lot of a nearby Popeye’s.
The shooting “appears to be random,” a police source told the Daily News.
“The kids who shot him started to run that way,” Tendilla said, pointing in the direction of 177th Road.
“There was a shot and a bunch of kids fighting in the parking lot,” said another witness who did not want to share their name. “He went up onto the sidewalk and crashed into the building.” The driver “was all bloody,” they added.
EMTs transported Alcindor to Jamaica Hospital, where he was subsequently pronounced dead, police said Monday night.
Police officers confirmed after the driver was shot, he plowed into a female pedestrian; officers were not immediately able to give any information about her condition.
The investigation is ongoing.
