A 49-year-old man was shot dead during a botched jewelry robbery outside a Queens strip club early this morning, cops and sources said.
The victim was in front of the Riviera Gentleman’s Club at Steinway Street and 35th Avenue in Astoria around 3:50 a.m. when a masked mugger approached him from behind, according to authorities.
The brute tried to take the victim’s jewelry before opening fire, hitting him in the back, law enforcement sources said.
The victim – who was not immediately identified – was taken to the Elmhurst Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said. Cops couldn’t say if he had been patronizing the club.
The gunman, seen wearing a black mask, fled empty-handed in a white vehicle and had not been caught several hours later, police said.
Several years ago, two men were shot during a brawl outside the same establishment – also in the pre-dawn hours, officials said then.
As the February 2018 fight escalated, a man pulled out a gun and opened fire, striking one victim, 33, in the torso, and another, 29, in the ankle, cops said.
Both victims were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
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