A homophobic gunman shot and killed a 32-year-old man at point-blank range after he unleashed a series of anti-gay slurs at the victim on a Greenwich Village street, cops said Saturday.
The unidentified suspect fired a single round into Mark Carson’s head on W. Eighth St. near Sixth Ave. on Friday night, after he taunted the gay man who was walking with a friend, cops said.
The hate-filled shooter — who police were still trying to identify late Saturday because he was carrying a fake ID — was with two pals when he first approached Carson and his friend on Sixth Ave. about midnight, police said.
Sources said Carson and his 31-year-old friend were dressed in tank tops and cut-off shorts with boot s.
“Look at these f—–s,” one of the suspect’s crew barked at the pair. “What are you, gay wrestlers?”
The two groups exchanged words, but Carson and his pal decided it was better to walk away.
But as they turned the corner, the suspect and one of his cohorts confronted the pair again and taunted them by shouting “f—-t” and “queer,” Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.
One of the bigots got nervous and ran away as the suspect asked the two gay men, “Do you want to die here?” Kelly said.
Suddenly, the suspect whipped out a silver .38-caliber revolver and shot Carson in the face. The shooter ran away as Carson collapsed on the sidewalk.
As emergency crews rushed Carson to Beth Israel Hospital, rookie cop Henry Huot was responding to the job and spotted the gunman at W. Third and MacDougal Sts. — where he ordered the suspect to stop.
“The perpetrator does stop, crouches down and takes out a silver revolver and throws it to the ground,” Kelly said.
The suspect was cuffed as Carson died on arrival at the hospital.
“This clearly looks to be a hate crime, a bias crime,” Kelly said.
“He was a courageous person,” said Carson’s brother, Michael Bumpars, at the family’s upper Manhattan home. “My brother was a beautiful person …. He was our foundation.”
Carson had recently moved to Brooklyn and was working as a manager of a yogurt shop, said his longtime friend Kennisha Allen, 33.
She said Carson was used to getting harassed because he was openly gay, but always handled the situations with “grace and class.”
“He didn’t deserve this,” she said. “He never hurt nobody.”
Kelly said the suspect went on a bizarre tirade at a bar just moments before the senseless killing.
The suspect, after he was caught urinating outside a Barrow St. bar, got into an argument with the bartender and manager. The suspect threatened to shoot them as he flashed the silver revolver strapped under his gray hoodie in a shoulder holster, Kelly said.
“Are you watching the news? You know what happened in Sandy Hook? I’m wanted,” the suspect allegedly said before storming out and meeting two friends outside.
The deadly gunfire erupted just moments later a few blocks away. Cops were still hunting for the suspect’s two friends.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said the murder invoked a sad era of the city’s history when gay people were constantly under attack.
“I stand with all New Yorkers in condemning this attack,” said the openly gay mayoral candidate, adding that the killing “has no place in a city whose greatest strength will always be its diversity.”
“It’s devastating,” said Bumpars. “I wish I had one more chance to tell him how much he meant to me.”
Mark Carson (pictured) was with his friend in the Ville when this crap happened out of the blue. One suspect named Elliot Morales in custody.
The suspect, after he was caught urinating outside a Barrow St. bar, got into an argument with the bartender and manager. The suspect threatened to shoot them as he flashed the silver revolver strapped under his gray hoodie in a shoulder holster, Kelly said.
More Stories
PHILLY ANTI-GAY ATTACKERS SOUGHT (VIDEO)
ARKANSAS STATE JUDGE STRIKES DOWN BAN ON SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
TN BUSINESS OWNER VICTIM OF SAVAGE ANTI-GAY ATTACK