Peter Panthier Jr: Shocking video shows execution-style murder of Brooklyn musician
The NYPD has released a chilling video that captured the execution-style killing of a 26-year-old musician in Queens last weekend.
Peter Panthier Jr was shot in the head at point-blank range as he walked alongside his suspected killer outside 624 Grassmere Terrace in Far Rockaway at about 8:10 pm Saturday, police said. Disturbing video footage shows the duo walking casually on a sidewalk before the suspect shot dead Panthier in the apparently unprovoked attack. The clip shows how the victim instantly dropped to the ground before the gunman fled the scene on foot.
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Authorities said it wasn't immediately clear why Panthier was in Far Rockaway at the time, considering he lived in East New York. “They were walking together like they were friends, and he shot him. I can’t understand it,” his devastated father, Peter Panthier Sr, told the New York Daily News. “He was executed. Oh my God, he was executed.” The victim was rushed to St John’s Episcopal Hospital, where he was declared dead. “This is a sick guy. It’s sad. They took his life. He was just a young man,” Panthier’s father added.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
WANTED for HOMICIDE: On 3/26/22 @ 8:10 PM, @NYPD101PCT outside of 624 Grassmere Terrace the unidentified individual discharged a firearm @ a 26-year-old victim striking him in the head causing his death. ANY info call us @ 800-577-TIPS or DM NYPDTips Reward up to $3500. pic.twitter.com/YJZkeBw4m4
— NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPDTips) March 31, 2022
An immigrant from the Caribbean island of Dominica, Panthier lived with his family in the East New York section of Brooklyn. His grieving relatives said they had no idea why he traveled to Far Rockaway. “He was a good man. If anything, he was too quiet. He was fighting depression,” Panthier's grandfather, Julian Dodds, said. “He went out about half-past five. A car was waiting for him outside, and that’s the last we saw from him.” The embattled family said they didn't know his friends and that he wasn't in any trouble that they knew of. “There are a lot of young men coming through, but we didn’t know any of them,” his grandfather added.
Panthier, who had no criminal record, moved to the US about a year and a half ago after studying economics at St Augustine College in Trinidad & Tobago. He reportedly supported his family as a warehouse worker. “We sent him to college for a better life, and he came with the rest of the family to help us. We’re getting older,” Dobbs told the newspaper. The victim's family said he was previously teaching science and math at a high school in Dominica and was also part of an acting troupe. “He loved nature and he made beats for a lot of musicians. He was a musician and he grew up acting in Dominica,” Panthier’s father said, remembering his beloved son.
According to the Daily News, the victim recorded a number of music videos and posted them on YouTube, and often sang about his loneliness or depression. “We have no idea who would do this,” Peter Panthier Sr said. “That is the big question.” That said, the cold-blooded murder is the latest in a crime epidemic that has plagued New York City in recent years, with a major uptick in the rates of shootings, robberies, rapes, hate crimes, and assaults.
If you or anyone you know has information related to the shooting, you are urged to contact the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).