Police on Long Island are looking for a gunman who killed one man and critically wounded another in a drive-by shooting that may have been a case of mistaken identity.
Two landscapers, Elvis Rivera, 25, and Jaime Figueroa, 18, both from Hempstead, had just eaten at a local restaurant and were stopped at a traffic light on North Ocean Avenue and Sunrise Highway in Freeport just before 8 p.m. Sunday.
Detective Sgt. Dennis Barry said a second car pulled alongside and one of the men shouted to Rivera and Figueroa: “Are you MS?” an apparent reference to the El Salvadoran gang MS-13.
The gunman then opened fire, striking both men in the head, killing Figueroa and critically wounding Rivera.
Neither man had criminal records or any evidence of gang affiliation, Barry said. “We think it may have been a case of mistaken identity.”
He asked anyone with information on the shootings to call the Homicide Squad at (516) 573-7788. All calls will be kept confidential.