By Dustin Brown
A supervisor with the city Department of Environmental Protection whose car crashed into a Long Island City building Friday after he was shot once in the head died three days later at Elmhurst Hospital Center, police and hospital officials said.
Eugene McMahon, 46, died at 5:02 p.m. Monday after he was taken off life support with his family by his side, hospital spokesman Dario Centorcelli said. The gunshot wound to his head had left him brain dead.
“The family is taking it very badly — really traumatized,” Centorcelli said shortly before McMahon died. “They’ve been severely traumatized by the whole situation.”
Officers responding to reports of a car accident found McMahon at 5:10 a.m. slumped behind the wheel of a DEP-marked vehicle that had crashed into the brick wall of a warehouse at 29-23 40th Rd., police said.
The gunshot wound to his head was only discovered while McMahon was being treated at Elmhurst, police said.
He was shot while sitting in the driver’s seat of the city vehicle, struck on the left side of his head with a bullet that exited on the opposite side and shattered the passenger side window, police said.
The car then somehow sped forward and crashed into the wall, damaging both the front end of the car and the building, police said.
Police said the shooting may have resulted from a botched robbery attempt, according to published reports. Although his wallet was missing, a city laptop computer and digital camera were found lying on one of the passenger seats, the reports said.
At the time of the shooting, McMahon was on duty as a night manager in the DEP’s Bureau of Water and Sewer Operations.
McMahon, a married father of three who lived on Long Island, had served with the DEP for six years, prior to which he worked for the Jamaica Water Supply Company.
A large segment of his family from Ireland arrived over the weekend to be with him, Centorcelli said. He also received a visit from Mayor Bloomberg, who stopped by the hospital Friday afternoon.
The shooting occurred on a desolate industrial street just off Northern Boulevard in the shadow of the elevated tracks of the N train.
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.
