KEY POINTS
- The shooting took place Saturday night
- The accused allegedly had a dispute with the restaurant, where the victim worked
- The victim’s wife urged the NYPD to find her husband’s killer
The New York Police Department is on the lookout for a man, who allegedly fatally shot a Chinese food delivery driver in Queens.
The victim, 45-year-old Zhiwen Yan, worked at a Queens Chinese restaurant called “The Great Wall.” He was allegedly shot in the chest following a delivery in Forest Hills on Saturday around 9.30 p.m. ET, WABC-TV reported.
The police are reportedly not ruling out the possibilities of Yan being a subject of a hate crime, the New York Daily News reported.
A video of the incident obtained by the outlet showed Yan being shot. Investigators examined the surveillance footage of the area, which showed the suspect fleeing the scene in a sedan.
The NYPD detectives are now on the lookout for who they believe is a 50-year-old unidentified man, who reportedly had a dispute last year with “The Great Wall.”
Kai Yang, 53, the manager of the restaurant, told the cops he saw the potential suspect in November when the man picked up his food order, grabbed duck sauce from a self-serve station, and left, only to return with a complaint he didn’t get enough of the condiment, the New York Daily Times reported.
Yang said he tried to calm him down by saying the condiment was free of cost, and he could have as much as he wanted, but the man reportedly wanted a refund. When Yang refused, the man threatened to call the cops, he told the New York Daily News.
The manager said the man reappeared on Jan. 28, threatened him with a gun, damaged the lock of the restaurant’s front door, and even slashed the tires of his car. He added he had managed to take a picture of the man at that time.
Yang gave the man’s license plate number to deputies, and cops managed to track him down to a nearby residence. The man reportedly has a history of 10 arrests, all of which were made between 1995 and 2012. One of the arrests involved a robbery with a gun, the New York Daily News reported, citing sources.
However, it was not clear what action was taken against the man then.
An onlooker, who was at the scene of the shooting Saturday, told the deputies he saw a Lexus SUV driving off from the spot. Yang told deputies the potential suspect drives a car of the same model.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said his office was in touch with the deceased’s family to ensure they got justice.
“No family deserves to experience the grief that Zhiwen Yan’s family is feeling this morning. Our thoughts are with them and everyone in [Forest Hills] who loved him,” Richards tweeted Monday.
Yan’s wife, Kunying Zhao, urged deputies to find her husband’s killer.
“Somebody, somebody killed my husband, catch him, catch him,” Zhao said through tears while speaking to WABC-TV.
