Fatal NY shooting gay hate crime: police A GUNMAN issued homophobic slurs before fatally shooting a man point-blank in the face on a crowded Manhattan street, authorities say. New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly is calling the killing a hate crime. Before opening fire early on Saturday, the gunman confronted the victim and his companion in Greenwich Village and asked if they "want to die here," Kelly said. The violence follows a series of recent bias attacks on gay men in New York, but this was the first deadly one. Police said the gunman, identified later as 33-year-old Elliot Morales, told both the bartender and the manager, "if you do call the police, I'll shoot you," and opened his sweatshirt to reveal a shoulder holster. Out on the street minutes later, the gunman and two others approached the 32-year-old victim, identified by police as Harlem resident Marc Carson, and a companion. The gunman asked the men if they were together and when he got an affirmative answer, Kelly said, "we believe that the perpetrator says to the victim, 'Do you want to die here?"'. That's when suspect produced the revolver and fired one shot into Carson's cheek, Kelly said. The gunman fled but was caught a few streets down.