QUEENS — Two people, including a mother of two, were fatally shot in a triple shooting on 170th Street early Wednesday morning by a gunman who may have been seeking revenge for his brother’s arrest at an Independence Day party a few hours earlier, police sources said.
The three people, 27-year-old Jasmine Quattlebaum, 28-year-old Herman Mullings and 32-year-old William Watson, were outside a two-story building at 107-07 170th St., near 107th Avenue, when the gunfire erupted about 3:38 a.m., NYPD officials said.
Quattlebaum, who neighbors and friends said was a mother of two young children, was shot in the head and pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Mullings was shot multiple times in the back and pronounced dead at Jamaica Hospital, while Watson was listed in stable condition at the same hospital, police said.
Police officials said that earlier that evening officers had responded to a report of an assault at that location after 21-year-old Joseph Ocasio of Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, punched a 23-year woman at the party while she held her 1-year-old daughter around 1 a.m., authorities said.
Ocasio, who has seven prior arrests, all of them sealed, was charged with reckless endangerment and assault, police said.
Investigators are now looking for Ocasio's brother, who sources said may have been seeking revenge for that arrest.
Friends of the victims said they were devastated by the loss.
"She was a very sweet, kind female. She took care of all the kids on the block," said Christine Trahan, a long-time family friend, of Quattlebaum. "I'm shocked, I just can't believe it."
Trahan, who described the victim as a "very hard working single mother," said she worked various jobs in recent years, including at Walmart and as a babysitter.
"Whatever was available, she was doing it to take care of her children," Trahan said. "And they are destroyed now."
Jasmine Quattlebaum, 27, was shot in the head and pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Photo: Facebook
Neighbors in the area said they were shocked to learn about the shooting, saying Quattlebaum, who lived at the location, and her family would occasionally throw parties but they never led to violence.
"I don't know about any problems there," said Donna Hope, 58, who has lived on the block for nearly three decades.
"She seemed like a nice, warm person," Hope said about Quattlebaum. "The kids were always taken care of."
There were no immediate arrests, police said.
