Qns. dad slain at his b’day party
2nd man also shot and wounded in gunplay on street
A Queens father was fatally shot outside his 29th birthday party in a hail of bullets that also wounded a second man, police said Monday.
Kajawn Howard, 29, took himself to Jamaica Hospital after being struck in the stomach when shots rang out outside a party hall on Rockaway Blvd. near 134th St. in South Ozone Park about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, cops said. He died in the hospital the next day.
When cops arrived at the scene, they found a second man, 26, shot in the back. Medics took him to Jamaica Hospital in stable condition. There have been no arrests. Howard lived just a few blocks from the party hall where he was celebrating on his 29th birthday. He was father to a 1-year-old boy and worked in construction, friends said.
A nearby restaurant owner said the party hall has been largely deserted since a vacate notice was slapped on the door about eight months ago.
A memorial packed with
flickering candles, booze bottles and photos of Howard was set up on a sidewalk across the street from the venue Monday.
“He’s a good dude,” said a pal who declined to give his name. “He was a person you wouldn’t expect this to happen to.”
“He liked music. He liked to eat,” he added. “He was funny, a character.”
The motive for the shooting
was not immediately clear, but cops said there was an argument leading up to it.
There were 11 homicides citywide last week compared with just three during the same week last year, NYPD data show.
So far this year through Sunday, there have been 132 slayings across the five boroughs compared with 113 in 2020, a 17% uptick.
There have been 469 people shot citywide this year through Sunday compared with 259 during the same period last year, an 81% spike.
The increase in homicides and shootings comes with more gun arrests compared with last year.
This year so far, NYPD cops have made 1,619 gun arrests compared with 1,092 by this time last year.