EAST VILLAGE — A man who went by the name "Coke Wave" was killed in the Lillian Wald Houses Friday morning in what investigators believe may have been a drug-related shooting, police said.
Michael Rodriguez, whom friends identified by his nickname, was shot in the torso in the courtyard of 890 E. Sixth St., near Avenue D, about 1:52 a.m., an NYPD spokesman said.
"I heard about four shots. There were three, then a two-minute pause, then a fourth," said Naureen Frank, 50, who lives near the shooting scene.
Rodriguez was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Beth Israel, police said.
Rodriguez was carrying crack cocaine, sources said.
Witnesses saw two men fleeing the scene covering their faces with their T-shirts, police said. There were no immediate arrests.
Rodriguez's friends said he was devoted to the people he cared about.
"He was a fun-loving kid. If you were down, that's the person you go to to make you feel better about yourself. He'd say anything to cheer you up," said Jeffrey Griffin, 18.
"I saw him yesterday afternoon. He was regular him — happy, funny, cracking jokes on everybody. I just hope they find who did this," Griffin added.
Neighbors said the gun violence, while sad, isn't surprising.
"I'm hearing gunshots two or three times a week out here. No matter how many times you hear them, it's still scary," Frank said. "Gunshots don't have no name. It's like these guys don't fear cops or nothing."
