Alleged Gang Member Accused Of Shooting Outside Kew Gardens Hotel

KEW GARDENS, QUEENS — A 15-year-old suspected gang member faces a charge of attempted murder for a shooting this summer outside a troubled Kew Gardens hotel that local elected officials are asking the city to shut down.

The Jamaica teen stands accused of following a 17-year-old boy out of the Umbrella Hotel on Queens Boulevard and shooting him just before midnight on July 3, the Queens District Attorney's Office said in a news release.

A bullet struck the 17-year-old in the right leg, shattering his femur, and he fell to the ground and rolled under a car to hide from his shooter, prosecutors said.

He was rushed to the hospital and went right into surgery.

The shooter was identified on surveillance video and arrested the next day, according to prosecutors. Authorities have not released his name because he is a minor.

A grand jury later indicted the teen on charges of attempted murder, assault, criminal use of a firearm, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment.

He is set to return to court on Sept. 25. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.

Local elected officials and neighbors say the hotel where the shooting happened has been a hotspot for loud parties, large gatherings, violence and illicit activities for months.

Police officers and members of the Queens District Attorney's violent criminal enterprises bureau are still investigating another shooting there, which left the hotel's revolving front door riddled with bullet holes on Aug. 9, and reports of other unspecified crimes.

Prosecutors said the August shooting is unrelated to the charges announced Friday against the 15-year-old boy.