24-year-old fatally shot in Harlem

A 24-year-old man was fatally shot in the head during an early-morning clash on a Harlem street, police said Tuesday.

An argument broke out among a group of people outside the Savoy Park apartment complex and shots were fired about 12:30 a.m. on Monday, police said.

Menkie Woodard-Collins was struck in the head on W. 139th St. near Malcolm X Blvd.

“I heard four shots,” said a local resident who was playing video games when the shooting occurred. The neighbor, who wished not to be named, ran to his window and watched as everyone scattered down the street.

Another resident was woken up by the sound of the gunshots.

“I was dead asleep,” the man said. “I heard someone yelling after the fact. It sounded like they were crying and then it was just sirens.”

Cops found Woodard-Collins sprawled out on the street. EMS rushed him to Harlem Hospital, where he later died.

His cousin Sabrina Woodard, 50, hadn’t slept Tuesday in the 36 hours since the victim was killed.

“I’m devastated. It’s been hard,” she said. “He was a hero. He was a big teddy bear.”

“He was different,” she added. “Always there for the family.”

The victim lived about a mile from where he was shot, officials said. It was not immediately clear what sparked the argument or if Woodard-Collins was targeted, police sources said.

No arrests had been made. Savoy Park residents said there has been increasing violence nearby and inside their parking lot. The privately owned affordable housing complex has 1,800 units. The buildings were constructed in 1959 on the block where the legendary Savoy Ballroom once stood.

In April, NYPD cops exchanged fire with a group of men while breaking up a wild fight outside the apartment complex. One wounded man was arrested and upward of 50 rounds were fired — at least five by police — during the shootout.

A resident said there are always people hanging around outside the complex.

“A lot of the time it’s not people you know because you have to say, ‘Excuse me’ to get in and out of the building,” the woman said. “[Gunshots] happen so often that you don’t even look or bother anymore.”

“This is somebody’s child,” she said of Woodard-Collins. “That’s sad.”