The police have released a surveillance video of four young men they describe as “persons of interest†in Friday's shooting death of a 16-year-old, Raphael Ward, on the Lower East Side.
The video, taken “not long†before the shooting, shows the four inside the deli at 49 Columbia Street where Raphael collapsed after he was shot, the police said.
Screengrab from N.Y.P.D. video. The police are looking to speak to these men in connection with the shooting of Raphael Ward.A police spokesman declined to say what role any of the four might have played in the shooting but said, “We want to speak to these people.â€
Raphael was shot around 9 p.m. at Rivington and Columbia Streets, a block from his apartment in the Baruch public housing complex.
He had sought shelter in the deli when a gunman appeared in the plaza. Raphael then emerged, only to be shot in the chest, witnesses said. The shot sent Raphael reeling back into the store, where he collapsed, the police said.
The police said that as Raphael collapsed he spoke to a few friends inside the store, indicating that the person who shot him might have wanted to steal his jacket.
Anyone with information about the shooting or the four young men in the video is a sked to contact Crime Stoppers.
