NEW YORK – A dispute between friends erupted in gunfire inside a car at Kennedy International Airport early Friday, leaving one man dead and a gunman on the loose, authorities said.
New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said authorities suspect the dispute involved drugs.
The victim and his girlfriend were driving a friend to the airport to catch a flight when the men started arguing, said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The gunman apparently shot the boyfriend as the woman was approaching an airport terminal, then told her to drop him off, Coleman said. He said the gunman then hailed a taxi or livery cab and got inside.
The woman drove to a nearby house for help, but her boyfriend was pronounced dead at 6 a.m., about 30 minute after the shooting, Coleman said.
Port Authority police searched the airport for the gunman, who is believed to be in his mid-20s, Coleman said. He said the man was wearing a shirt, tie and dress pants and had been expected to catch a flight to Los Angeles.
The names of the three people were not released. Coleman said he didn't know what the men had argued about.
The shooting did not affect the airport's operations but it came less than a day after a man breached security at one of the airport's terminals, causing evacuations and delaying some flights, according to authorities. Authorities said the two incidents did not appear to be related.
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