S.I. gang mayhem
Van pins gunman against wall, killing him
One person was killed and at least four people injured in a bizarre gang-related clash on Staten Island that ended with a minivan fatally mowing down a 26-year-old gunman who opened fire on the vehicle, authorities and witnesses said.
An argument between two groups outside Staten Island Criminal Court sparked the bloodshed at Monroe Ave. and Fort Place about 11:45 a.m. on Tuesday.
As a brawl broke out, a gun and a knife were flashed, sparking a chase down Central Ave. at Hyatt St. in St. George, officials said.
As one group chased the other, a handful of suspects jumped into a dark-colored minivan heading in the opposite direction — throwing the driver, Atiji Moore, 27, out in the process — made a U-turn and went around the block in an attempt to cut the gunman off on Fort Place.
“(Atiji) was dropping a friend off (at court) and saw that there was a little altercation between his friend and another person that was there," said his father, Thomas Moore.
“A second later, the people fighting Atiji’s friend jumped into the minivan, punched him in the head and pushed him out of the vehicle,” the father said.
Atiji ran to a store and reported the theft, but by then it was too added.
"The people in that f---ing store would not let him call 911 or anything like that,” his father said. "He heard a loud bang. When he stepped out of the store he realized it was his van."
The gunman fired several rounds at the van before the vehicle slammed into him, pinning him between the vehicle and a house, officials said.
“The front of the van went under the front porch of the house, thus pinning the suspected shooter between the roof of the van and the house,” said New York State Courts spokesman Lucian Chalfen. “A revolver was found on the windshield outside the car next to the man who was pinned.”
The gunman died at the scene, officials said. His name was not immediately released. late, his father