The 22-year-old man who shot two people in an argument over a double-parked car in Queens said he was protecting himself when he blasted away at his rivals, prosecutors said Tuesday.
“I was protecting myself. I have a kid,” Alan Rodriguez told police after he was arrested on attempted murder charges for the Sunday night road rage shooting in Kew Gardens Hills.
At about 9:20 p.m., the two victims were standing with a third man around a double-parked silver Toyota on 79th Ave. near 147th St. when a black Acura MDX pulled up.
Rodriguez exited the Acura MDX and began arguing with the two men over being double-parked. Another man was driving the Acura and a woman was in the back seat. Both remained in the vehicle, cops said.
As the argument continued, Rodriguez allegedly pulled a 9-mm pistol with an extended clip and opened fire, blasting a 41-year-old man in the left knee and striking a 34-year-old man in the left foot.
“Stop! Don’t do it! Don’t do it!” the woman in the Acura screamed as Rodriguez opened fire, according to court papers filed by the Queens district attorney’s office.
The witness saw “a burst of light coming from the gun,” according to a criminal complaint.
Responding officers found shell casings at the scene, police said. Thanks to a clear description of the shooter given by the witness, arriving officers spotted Rodriguez nearby and took him into custody.
The man driving the Acura and the woman, who fled the scene, were still being sought.
The alleged gunman lives around the block from where the shooting took place. His two victims also live nearby.
Both victims were rushed to Jamaica Hospital, where they’re expected to survive. The bullet that hit the 34-year-old man went through his foot, doctors told police. The round that entered the older man’s knee was unable to be removed Monday.
Rodriguez wasn’t armed when he was taken into custody, although he admitted to the shooting, officials said.
Despite his claims of having a kid, no one saw a child in the car or near the scene of the shooting, cops said.
Prosecutors also charged Rodriguez with weapons possession and reckless endangerment. A Queens assistant district attorney asked that Rodriguez be held without bail, but a judge ordered him held on $1 million bail.
He’s expected back in court on Friday.
