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Read the press release here.

NYPD Releases Sketches of Rings Stolen During JFK Hotel Shooting

By Josh Keefe | January 25, 2016 2:56pm
 Police released sketches of four rings stolen after a shooting in the parking lot of a hotel near JFK.
Police released sketches of four rings stolen after a shooting in the parking lot of a hotel near JFK.
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NYPD

SOUTH JAMAICA - Police released sketches of four rings stolen at gunpoint from a college student in a hotel parking lot near JFK Thursday night — right before robbers shot her mother for trying to protect her

Meredith Stifter, 20, a college student at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, was waiting in the car while her mom, 53-year-old Andrea Koller, of Maryland, was checking in to the Hampton Inn Thursday night.

The pair were going to spend some last time together before Stifter was supposed to fly to Cape Town, South Africa the following morning for a semester abroad, sources said.

The masked robber got into the driver's seat of Koller's parked 2007 Hyundai while Sifter was sitting in the passenger seat, and demanded money before hitting Stifter in the face with a gun and taking her four rings, sources said.

The rings included a silver elephant ring, a gold and black metal 2013 Notre Dame high school class ring, a silver metal hammered flat ball ring, and a silver metal hammered flat ring with a blue stone.

An NYPD spokesman did not have any information regarding the value of the rings. 

The suspect threatened to kill Sifter if her mother didn't have any money, then drove the car to a new spot in the parking lot and jumped out to confront Koller as she returned to the car, sources said.

He demanded Koller hand over her purse, and when she refused, he hit her with the gun several times, prompting her to hit back, sources said.

The suspect then fired a single shot that hit Koller in the right side of her chest and exited through her shoulder, sources said. She was brought to Jamaica Hospital where she is listed in stable condition. 

Police said the gunman is believed to be 30  years old, 5 feet 11 inches, and wore a black ski mask, black Columbia jacket, black pants and black sneakers. He fled with the rings and Koller's purse in a Volkswagen Jetta driven by a getway driver with braids, police said.

Investigators believe the same suspects are behind recent robberies in hotel parking lots in the area on Dec. 28, Jan. 3, Jan. 5 and Jan. 9.

The NYPD is encouraging anyone with information about the robberies to call the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS. Tips can also be submitted at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or via text at 274637(CRIMES) with TIP577. All calls are confidential.