Police released a sketch of a man wanted in for questioning in the early Sunday morning shooting at a Queens BBQ that left one person dead and five others injured. The party, which was at a Springfield Gardens home at 182nd Street and 145th Drive, was an annual celebration of IS 238 graduates. This year, there were 200 people attending, because the invitation "went viral online" through Twitter and Facebook. The Post reports, "With the invite touting a deejay and free food and booze, 318 Facebook friends had said they would attend."
According to the Daily News, "Partygoers overwhelmed the reunion barbecue outside a private home on 145th Drive in Springfield Gardens, creating an impromptu block party late Saturday night. A group of men on motorcycles argued with another group of partygoers before gunfire erupted a little after 2 a.m. yesterday, witnesses said." However, it's unclear if the motorcyclists, who were also seen doing wheelies and spinning out, attended the party or were involved with the shooting.
Police say the gunman fired onto the crowd, and 20-year-old Dane Freeman was fatally shot in the head. A friend of Freeman's, who found out about the party via text message, told the NY Times, "I’m at a loss for words. He was at the wrong place in the wrong time... I’m a realist. I miss him but I know that’s how life goes." He also described the motorcycles as a "diversion" for the shooting. And Freeman's mother, who said her son worked at a D'Agostino in Manhattan, "He was a good kid. Always had a smile. I spoke to him last night about 8:30. He said, ‘Mommy, I love you.’ It was just a barbecue, and he was going to have fun."
The other victims were: Two men, ages 25 and 21, who were each shot in the leg; a 23-year-old man who was shot in the back; a 22-year-old woman shot in the shoulder; and a 21-year-old woman who was shot in both hands. City Councilman James Sanders, Jr., said, "[They] were told they were going to have a little party. This is not what they signed up for. It's a cautionary tale: Once it goes on Facebook, it's in the universe; there's no way you can control it."
