Zhiwen Yan, a 45-year-old Chinese delivery man was fatally shot in Queens on Saturday night, while he was on his scooter, authorities said. Police are now looking for a suspected gunman believed to be a disgruntled customer who had multiple disputes with the restaurant where Yan worked as a delivery man.
Police have launched an investigation but are yet to make any arrests. Surveillance video captured the final moments of Yan before he was gunned down in the middle of a residential street. Yan was an employee at the Great Wall on Queens Boulevard and the customer, who is now a suspect, is believed to have shot Yan because of a dispute with the restaurant.
Killed on the Street
Yan, who worked at 'The Great Wall,' a Chinese restaurant in Queens, was making deliveries on his scooter as usual on Saturday. However, he didn't know that danger was awaiting him. Surveillance video captured the final moments before he was shot dead.
The video shows a man approaching Yan as he takes his scooter out on the street and then shoots him in the chest. The incident happened around 9:30 p.m. near 108th Street and 67th Drive in Forest Hills, just hours after Mayor Eric Adams met with NYPD precinct commanders to discuss the city's rising crime rate.
Yan is seen trying to feel by rolling backward on the bike as the gunman approaches him, but the suspect shoots, knocking the scooter to the ground. Elmhurst Hospital later pronounced him dead. Yan is survived by his wife and three children, ages 2, 12, and 14.
"Somebody..somebody killed my husband, catch him.. catch him," Yan's wife Kunying Zhao said through tears.
Zhao spoke to Eyewitness News Sunday morning with her young daughter playing nearby.
It's unclear whether the victim was singled out. According to authorities, the shooter opened fire several times before getting into a dark or tan vehicle and driving eastbound on 67 Drive.
Customer Suspect
Police have launched an investigation but are yet to make any arrests. According to sources, cops are now looking into a 50-year-old customer who allegedly threatened staff at Great Wall on Queens Boulevard with a gun in January and vandalized their vehicles twice.
The customer is believed to have had a dispute for months with the restaurant.
One witness told police the angry customer drove off from the Forest Hills restaurant in an older model Lexus RX3 SUV after one encounter — the same type of vehicle spotted fleeing the scene of Saturday's shooting, the sources said.
"This was a father of three children working three jobs — all food delivery," said the deceased man's nephew, Michael, outside the family's Middle Village home on Sunday.
"He came here in 2001," he said. "He has been in this country over 20 years. I would like to know why this murder took place. I would like to find out the truth and get justice. This was a brutal murder."
"It's unacceptable that this happened," Michael added. "This is a very peaceful community. This never happened, this kind of issue."
Yan's murder comes less than 24 hours after Mayor Adams met with precinct commanders for a rare weekend meeting, demanding remedies to the city's escalating crime rate.
