1 dead, 4 hurt in NYC Shooting Spree

A driver with a gun went on a shooting spree in several neighborhoods and apparently targeted victims at random, killing a man and four other people.

A gunman on a cocaine-and-booze binge killed one man and wounded two others in a series of drive-by shootings across six frightening hours in Queens, prompting a massive manhunt that ended when he surrendered peacefully after police stopped his car early Saturday, authorities said.Three other people were injured by flying glass, including an off-duty police lieutenant, during the rampage by Matthew Colletta, 34, of Queens, said police spokesman Sgt. Kevin Hayes.

Colletta was behind the wheel of a green 1992 Cadillac when the shooting began at about 7:20 p.m. Friday, police said.

Although police said the choice of victims was apparently random, Colletta's last five targets were all red automobiles. The slain man was riding with his wife to their Long Island home after dropping their daughter off at Marist College in Poughkeepsie.

Colletta drove across the length of Queens, starting in Maspeth and heading north before going back to Forest Hills, repeatedly firing a silver 9mm Ruger handgun along the way, police said.

There were nine separate shooting incidents, with police saying that Colletta was on a cocaine and alcohol binge before the gunfire started.

Todd Upton, 51, of Massapequa, was a passenger in his family's red Toyota minivan car in the remote Bay Terrace section when he was fatally wounded with a bullet to the neck as his wife drove along the Cross Island Parkway at about 11 p.m. Upton died a short time later at the New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens.

Colletta told the police he targeted red vechiles because he thought the "Bloods" were after him.

Colletta was arrested based on a description provided by the injured lieutenant and other witnesses. Before police located the Cadillac and stopped Colletta, a manhunt that included helicopters and police from neighboring Nassau County was launched, police said.

Colletta was charged with murder, assault, reckless endangerment and weapons possession, said Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown. Police said a silver 9mm handgun and shell casings were recovered from the Cadillac.

The suspect, who faces 25 years to life if convicted, was arrested last Sunday for assaulting his girlfriend, said Kevin Ryan, a spokesman for Brown. Colletta has been living out of his car for the last week, Ryan said. Click here to read more