Police are investigating the killing of a man in a Queens park on Sunday and that of another man at a Brooklyn IHOP on Friday, according to NYPD officials.
Officials said a 29-year-old man was fatally shot around 8:30 p.m. Sunday near the tennis courts in Rochdale Park near Guy R. Brewer Boulevard, within the Rochdale Village complex. Emergency medical workers took him to Jamaica Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police did not yet have a description of a possible suspect or motive. They also did not publicly identify the man as they worked to notify his family.
Around 10:30 p.m. Friday, officials said 67-year-old Brooklyn resident Hector Reinoso-Perez was stabbed in his torso inside an IHOP near the Starrett City development in East New York. Police said he was transported to Brookdale University Hospital, where he died. A 41-year-old man was slashed in his hand during the incident but was not hospitalized.
On Sunday, officials said they arrested 44-year-old Wilber Salazar Rios of Hempstead, Long Island in connection with the incident. They charged him with murder, assault with intent to cause serious physical injury, and criminal weapons possession.
Police said they were still looking into whether Reinoso-Perez and Rios knew each other. Information for Rios’ attorney was not yet available early Monday.
Through August, homicides and shootings in the 113th Precinct, which includes Rochdale Village, were about level with their numbers by the same point last year, according to NYPD data. In the 69th Precinct, where the IHOP is located, the number of homicides was the same in both periods, and felony assaults like stabbings decreased roughly 5%.
This is a developing story based on preliminary information from police and may be updated.
