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[h1]Man Killed in Rare Midtown Shooting[/h1][h3]By SEAN GARDINER and DANNY GOLD[/h3]
Anthony Delmundo for The Wall Street Journal
Police officers on the scene of a fatal shooting on West 58th Street in Manhattan on Monday afternoon.
A man was fatally shot in the head Monday afternoon near West 58th Street and Seventh Avenue, marking the fourth death this year in a typically murder-free area of Manhattan.
New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said the gunman approached the victim from behind and fired once, hitting him in the back of the head. The suspect entered a gray or silver late-model MKZ Lincoln sedan waiting on West 58th Street and turned south on Seventh Avenue, driving away from the scene.
"It definitely looks like a hit," said a law-enforcement official with knowledge of the case.
The shooting occurred just before 2 p.m. in front of the St. Thomas Choir School and across the street from a firehouse.
Authorities took the victim, described as a 31-year-old man carrying an out-of-town identification, to St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead. Police are withholding the victim's name pending family notification.
Seabicio Rodregues, a 53-year-old doorman, was inside a nearby building on West 58th street when he heard a single gunshot—although he didn't realize what it was at the time.
"I heard a 'tuk,' that's it," he said, describing the sound. "I didn't give it a lot I attention." Later, Mr. Rodregues said he saw the victim lying on the ground, face up.
David Mirambeau, 29, was making a delivery for United Parcel Service Inc. when he mistook the gunshot for the less disturbing sound of a flat tire.
"I just heard the shot," he said. Mr. Mirambeau said he then saw the victim on the ground: "He was gasping for air, he was still alive."
Mr. Mirambeau described the victim as bleeding profusely from his head and face, with two cellphones sprawled out next to his body. The victim was dressed in a black rain coat, black jeans and purple Nike sneakers.
Monday's shooting death is the fourth homicide this year in the traditionally murder-free Midtown North Precinct, which runs from 59th Street south to approximately 42nd Street and stretches from the Hudson River to Lexington Avenue.
Last week, Ki-Suk Han, 58, was pushed to his death on the subway tracks inside the 49th Street station after getting into an argument with 30-year-old Naeem Davis, who has been charged with murder in the case.
Theodore Beckles, a 19-year-old student at Independence High School, was fatally stabbed in September during a fight with a student from the High School for Environmental Studies, which shares the same West 56th Street building.
In April, 19-year-old Henry Wachtel allegedly beat his 63-year-old mother to death during what his attorney described as an epileptic seizure. The mother, Karyn Kay, had been an English teacher at LaGuardia High School.
All three previous homicide cases are still pending.
Corrections & Amplifications:
There have been four homicides this year in the New York Police Department's Midtown North Precinct. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said there had been three homicides in the precinct so far in 2012.
When I read about it a few hours ago, I knew it was a hit. Very bold by them to do it in that public of a location during that time. They clearly aren't afraid of repercussions.
