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Updated: Man found dead with gunshot wound to head in southeast Queens

By Kelsey Durham

A Bronx man was found dead in Cambria Heights Saturday night after he was shot in the head in an incident that police have since ruled a homicide, the NYPD said.

Police said they responded to a 911 call just after 10 p.m. Saturday and found 33-year-old Jason Bragg lying unresponsive in the roadway in front of a home on 219th Street near 121st Avenue. The victim had suffered a gunshot wound to the head and EMS responders pronounced him dead at the scene, authorities said.

An investigation into the incident led police to rule Bragg’s cause of death as a homicide, police said Sunday morning.

Many residents of the quiet southeast Queens street said they did not hear anything during the shooting, and some still had not learned Sunday morning that anything had happened outside their homes.

One homeowner, who lives next door to the house police said the murder occurred in front of, said he heard a loud pop around 9:30 p.m. When he went to his window a little while later, he saw a man later identified as Bragg lying in the street.

“I saw someone in the street dead under a sheet,” said the man, who declined to give his name.

The homeowner said police could be seen outside on 219th Street until around 4 or 5 a.m. Sunday, and the home the shooting happened in front of was still blocked off with caution tape around 10 a.m.

The next-door neighbor, who said he has lived in the area his whole life, said the neighborhood had improved greatly over the years and crimes such as this one had become a rare occurrence.No suspects had been identified and the investigation was ongoing.

Reach reporter Kelsey Durham at 718-260-4573 or by e-mail at [email protected].