Police said the gunman fled on a Citi Bike after opening fire in broad daylight.
JAMAICA, N.Y. — A 49-year-old man was shot and killed outside a church in Queens on Friday afternoon just as a funeral service was ending, and New York City police said the gunman escaped on a Citi Bike.
Police identified the victim as Richard Carter and said he was shot multiple times in the torso near Merrick Boulevard and Sayres Avenue at about 2:20 p.m. The killing unfolded as mourners were leaving the church, turning a funeral gathering into an active crime scene. Investigators had not announced an arrest late Friday, and officials said they were still working to determine whether Carter was the intended target and what led to the shooting.
Authorities said officers responded to reports of gunfire near the church and found Carter wounded on the ground outside. Emergency crews took him to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Witnesses said the shooting erupted as the service was wrapping up and about two dozen people were coming out of the building. Eric Fairchild, a limousine driver waiting nearby to take relatives of the deceased home, said the burst of gunfire came without warning. “I heard pow, pow, pow, pow,” Fairchild said, describing how he looked toward the hearse and saw a man on the ground moving from side to side before he ran for cover.
Police said the suspect was a man who ran from the area and was last seen heading north on 170th Street. Investigators said he was wearing a DKNY jacket, a colorful sweatshirt and orange sneakers. CBS New York reported that detectives were treating the attack as a targeted shooting, though police had not publicly explained why they believed that by late Friday night. Witnesses said the victim was known to some of the people attending the funeral, and Fairchild said someone at the scene identified Carter as a friend of the deceased. Police have not said whether Carter had attended the service, whether the gunman approached on foot before the shooting, or how many shots were fired. Those unanswered details are likely to shape the next stage of the investigation.
The setting added to the shock. The shooting happened outside The Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral of New York, a prominent church in Jamaica, and near a hearse and waiting vehicles assembled for the funeral. What began as a gathering for one death quickly became the scene of another. Witnesses described confusion and panic as mourners tried to understand where the shots came from and whether anyone else had been hit. Fairchild said his first fear was that stray bullets might come toward the line of cars and people on the sidewalk. A family member interviewed at the scene said relatives were still trying to care for one loved one who had already died when another man was killed outside the service.
As of late Friday, police had not announced charges, identified a suspect by name or released a possible motive. Detectives were expected to review surveillance video, canvass the area for additional witnesses and trace the gunman’s route after he fled. The reference to a Citi Bike may give investigators a clearer path if they can connect station records, security footage or timing from nearby cameras. Police also had not said whether the shooter and Carter knew each other or whether the attack had been planned around the funeral’s end. Those questions remained central because they could determine whether the case is treated as a targeted homicide tied to a personal dispute or part of a broader public-safety concern in the neighborhood.
Outside the church, the scene carried the heavy mix of grief and disbelief that often follows sudden violence. Mourners who had gathered to bury one person instead watched police tape go up around another death. Fairchild said he had only been preparing for the family to return to the limousine when the shooting started, and the speed of it left people scrambling. Another person connected to the funeral said the moment felt surreal because the family had not yet had the chance to complete the burial before more bloodshed interrupted the day. By nightfall, the church block remained defined by investigators, witnesses and the lingering question of why the shooting happened there and then.
The case remained unsolved late Friday, with police still searching for the gunman. The next major developments are expected to come from any surveillance evidence, public identification of a suspect or a formal police briefing once detectives establish a clearer motive timeline.
Author note: Last updated April 10, 2026.