Darnell Lewis, 17, was listed in critical condition at Jamaica…
By Dustin Brown
Two men forced their way into a South Jamaica home on a well-manicured block early Saturday morning and shot a teenage boy when he tried to sneak a glance at the invaders, police said.
Darnell Lewis, 17, was listed in critical condition at Jamaica Hospital after sustaining a gunshot wound to the head during the confrontation, a hospital spokesman said. The gunman and his accomplice were still at large.
Lewis, his older sister and her three children were ordered to lie face down on the floor after two men pushed their way into the apartment at 142-26 131st Ave. around 3:45 a.m., police said.
But one of the invaders shot Lewis in the head after he turned to look at them, police said. His assailants then fled on foot.
Most neighbors said they did not know the family because the Lewises had only moved there in recent months.
Lewis was visiting Trinidad and had been vacationing in New York with his mother for the past month, Newsday reported.
He had just returned from visiting his mother in Brooklyn with his sister and three young nephews when they were confronted at the front door of their home by two men, one of whom wielded a silver handgun, Newsday said.
Police decline to say whether the invasion of the second-floor apartment was a robbery attempt.
Neighbors who live along the block of tidy two-family attached homes reacted to the shooting with dismay.
“It’s a quiet neighborhood,” said David Branon, 28, who was visiting his girlfriend a few doors down.
“The reason I moved down here was to get away from all that,” said a neighbor who identified himself only as Brian, a 32-year-old United Parcel Service driver who lives with his wife and young children.
Brian said the neighborhood is so sedate that the biggest local story before Saturday’s shooting happened four years ago when someone slashed everyone’s car tires along the street.
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.
