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Now he’s at large and a local police chief is incensed.
Mye Johnson and her twin sister were celebrating their 27th birthdays with a group of people before dawn Thursday when her ex-lover from Hudson County showed up, authorities said.
Security guards at Solletto on Steinway Street near Astoria Boulevard turned away the as-yet unidentified man after finding him carrying a gun, law enforcement sources said.
He was still hanging around outside when police at the Queens North precinct station up the block were called.
Officers arrived as Johnson and the others emerged from the club around 4 a.m., the NYPD said.
An argument followed between the ex and Johnson’s current boyfriend, city police said. Then gunfire erupted.
It was all captured on security footage from a local business, police said.
Johnson, who had a 7-year-old son, was struck three times, NYPD Deputy Chief Julie Morrill said. She and was later pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Queens Hospital in Astoria, the deputy chief said. Her boyfriend and twin sister were wounded, as well, police said.
The suspected shooter fled across the George Washington Bridge into New Jersey in a white BMW, according to the NYPD.
It was shortly before 4:30 a.m. – barely 20 minutes later -- when a Fairview police officer stopped the speeding sedan as it headed south on Bergen Boulevard.
The officer found a driver and passenger in the car, which was unregistered and had tinted windows, Fairview Police Chief Martin Kahn said.
It also had a bullet hole in the fender, he said.
Because it was unregistered, the vehicle had to be impounded, the chief said. Because the men didn’t have a ride, they called for a taxi.
The cab had just pulled away when Fairview police received an alert that the sedan was wanted in connection with a homicide, Kahn said.
Officer Sebastian Castano stopped the taxi in North Bergen moments later, but he couldn’t take the suspect into custody, the chief said.
“The NYPD said there wasn't enough probable cause at the time to hold him,” he said. “We had no choice but to let him go.”
Kahn was enraged.
“We had this gift-wrapped,” he said. “But because of what the mayor [Bill de Blasio] is doing to law enforcement over there, guys can’t properly do their jobs anymore. Their hands are tied.
“This guy’s in the wind now.”
The NYPD hadn’t released the suspect’s name as of Friday morning (Christmas Eve). Anyone with information that could help find him is asked to call them.
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