A 39-year-old man was shot to death in his Harlem apartment and cops are looking to question his roommate, cops said Wednesday.
The killer got away and is being sought, police said. Cops are trying to track down the victim’s roommate for questioning, according to a police source.
The victim was shot in the abdomen during a confrontation inside his apartment on W. 152nd St. near St. Nicholas Ave., part of Harlem’s historic Sugar Hill District, about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.
“There was a big group of police right there and they basically had me just wait outside,” building resident Elijah Smith, 23, told the Daily News Wednesday. “Then they brought a person down on a stretcher. He didn’t seem conscious to me. He was completely silent.”
Medics rushed the victim to Harlem Hospital but he could not be saved, cops said. His name was not immediately released.
When he was allowed back into the building, Smith found “bloody clothes and stuff” scattered on a stairwell landing.
“It was really quite the (scene),” said Smith, who just moved to New York six days ago and discussed crime in the city with his roommate. “It was pretty wild to have that conversation and then have [the shooting] happen right underneath my room.”
Several residents of the building, including Smith’s roommate, heard the shot.
“He just heard banging and stuff and then a bunch of noise,” Smith recalled. “It was certainly a reality check.”
Longtime resident Louisa Christopher, 73, was left panicked by the shooting.
“Did you know the front door is open? Wide open!” Christopher told the News. “Anybody could just walk in and attack somebody. Lamb of God. What is happening in this building? This is too much!”