Off-Duty Correction Officer Fatally Shot In Queens
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An off-duty correction officer was fatally shot early Saturday morning in Queens.
Neighbors tell CBS2's Nick Caloway they heard a barrage of gunfire on Ridgedale Street just off Merrick Boulevard.
"I heard nine shots," resident Raymond Leslie said.
Sources say Jeff had just left a party when he was gunned down.
Police say they responded just after 3 a.m. and found 28-year-old John Jeff unconscious, with gunshot wounds to the head and torso.
Jeff was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
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One neighbor said there was an argument before the shooting.
Police sources say some type of road rage argument turned violent.
Jeff was a correction officer at Rikers Island. He had been on the job just over two years, and colleagues say he was well-liked and highly regarded by those he worked with.
When officers arrived, Jeff had an empty holster on his hip, so police are investigating the possibility that the officer's handgun was taken by the shooter before or after the attack.
The Correction Officers' Benevolent Association has put out a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in this case.
It's just one of a slew of violent encounters across the city from Friday into Saturday.
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"You really don't want to come out on these streets at night because it's getting increasingly dangerous," Leslie said.
In the Canarsie section of Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon, a man was critically injured after he was shot in the face.
There were more than a dozen shootings in 24 hours, with 27 people injured and three people killed.
The investigation into Jeff's death is ongoing.
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