A quiet stretch of shoreline at Kissena Lake turned into a crime scene Monday afternoon when a 75-year-old man was found shot along the water in Flushing’s Kissena Park. Officers responding to a 911 call about an unconscious man just before 5 p.m. discovered him with gunshot wounds to the neck and back. He was pronounced dead at the scene and later identified by police as Albert Itzkowitz. No arrests have been made.
According to FOX 5 New York, officers found Itzkowitz where the original call placed him, near the lake’s edge. Investigators said the motive behind the shooting is still unknown. The NYPD told the outlet that detectives are probing the killing but have not released any description of a possible suspect.
Where It Happened
Kissena Lake sits at the heart of Kissena Park in East Flushing, a roughly 235-acre city park threaded with walking paths and ringed by sports fields and a velodrome. The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation lists the lake and its shoreline among the park’s key attractions and notes it serves as a regular neighborhood destination.
Park History
The park has seen serious violence before. According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, an MS-13 associate was sentenced to 45 years in prison for his role in the April 23, 2018, murder of a 17-year-old in Kissena Park, a case that underscored how secluded park areas can at times become violent crime scenes.
Investigation
Authorities have not released a suspect description and are treating Itzkowitz’s killing as an active homicide investigation. The NYPD’s Crime Stoppers program is accepting anonymous tips at 1-800-577-TIPS and through an online form, per the department’s guidance, and officials are urging anyone with information to contact investigators.
This story will be updated as police release more details. For now, the NYPD says its homicide detectives are actively investigating.
