Locals from Queens reacted with dismay after 18-year-old Mark Green was shot and killed in broad daylight. 

“This is ridiculous,” said Joe McPolin, a Kew Gardens resident. “Too many young kids are getting killed and hurt over nothing. Something gotta be done.”

“This is probably the most serious crime that has ever happened in this neighborhood,” added Micael Morano, another Key Gardens resident.

Police say the victim was struck in the torso and later died at the hospital. 

According to the NYPD, he was the intended target and a student at North Queens Community High School, located just a few hundred feet from where the shooting took place.

Police on Thursday said two people had been taken into custody at the scene of the incident, but on Friday morning, police clarified that they were taken into custody in connection with a separate incident.

The suspect responsible for the shooting remains at large, according to police. They say the circumstances surrounding what led up to it remain under investigation.

Neighbors say they heard several gunshots shortly after 3 p.m. on Thursday. Some took cover in their apartments until police arrived.

“I saw someone on the ground in the fetal position,” Morano said. “I called my wife and she’s right next door and she said, ‘I heard seven shots.’ And she dropped on the ground and took my granddaughter and made sure they were on the ground.”

McPolin says he’s noticed a change in the neighborhood in recent years.

“That school is a problem to the neighborhood. We live in a really good neighborhood and it’s very secure, but since they put that school here, things just got horrible. Every Thursday and Friday, there’s always fights out here,” McPolin said.

In a statement, Schools Chancellor David Banks grieved the loss of the student and promised more security at the school.

“I am heartbroken for the city of New York, who lost a bright young soul today to a senseless act of gun violence,” Banks said. “We will be increasing security and supports at this school.”

The NYPD’s latest crime statistics show overall crime in the 107th precinct is up about 49% so far this year compared to the same time period in 2021.

The area has also seen a 50% uptick in shooting victims and a nearly 17% jump in shooting incidents.