The mother of an NYPD officer was fatally shot inside her Queens home Wednesday afternoon by a suspect who surrendered to cops minutes later.
Anna Torres, 51, was shot twice — including a bullet to the head ― at her house on 109th Avenue near 96th St. in Ozone Park just before 2:30 p.m., cops said. Medics declared her dead at the scene.
According to police, Giuseppe Canzani, 41, of Howard Beach, walked up to the house, knocked on the door — and when Torres answered, he opened fire with three shots at Torres, two of them striking her, including the blast to the head.
Canzani then drove off in a black Chevrolet Traverse normally driven by Torres, police sources said. Detectives were still investigating how the two knew each other.
Not long afterward, Canzani rolled up to the 106th Precinct stationhouse, took out a loaded .45-caliber Taurus handgun and laid it on the sidewalk, said NYPD Deputy Chief Jerry O’Sullivan.
Two officers in front of the precinct cuffed him and took him into custody.
Canzani is charged with murder. O’Sullivan said he made some statements to police, but was met at the precinct by an attorney.
Torres’ son, an NYPD officer, spoke to her on the phone about 20 minutes before the chilling slaying, ending the conversation by saying he loved her, sources familiar with the family said.
The cop got a frantic phone call soon after letting him know his mother was shot.
O’Sullivan said investigators believe her son’s job as a cop had nothing to do with why she was killed.
Two of Torres’ relatives were present when she was shot, O’Sullivan added.
Video obtained shows the shooter walk up to the parked Traverse, gun in hand, and get into the driver’s seat.
One neighbor, who didn’t give her name, said she saw Torres and the suspect arguing over the weekend.
“They were in the yard. He was screaming, ‘Who touched my stuff? I’m going to kill you!” the neighbor said.
The shooting happened roughly 12 hours after a woman was shot and critically wounded in the lobby of a Brooklyn apartment building. The victim, who was shot about 2:35 a.m. on Sterling Place at Rochester Ave. in Crown Heights, was taken to Kings County Hospital in critical condition.
