Police have released footage of the shocking moment a hitman tried to take out an associate of a New York City crime family.
Salvatore ‘Sally Daz’ Zottola, who has a relationship with the notorious Bonanno family, is seen being shot at on the street near his Bronx compound about 6.30am as he tries desperately to get away.
Moments before the gunman pulls up in a red four-door sedan, Zottola is seen exiting his car from the driver’s seat and rolling around on the road.
The gunman jumps out of the passenger seat, chases him behind the car and fires several times at his writhing body before sprinting back to the car and speeding away.
Pictured: The shocking moment a gunman comes for Bonanno crime family associate Salvatore Zottola with a gun as the 41-year-old rolls around on the street, perhaps to deny the shooter a clear shot
Zottola suffered several gunshot wounds to his chest and left hand, as well as graze wounds to his head, police said.
The Bronx man was shot in the chest and his left hand, and he sustained grazes to his head in the Wednesday morning attack
After the shooting, he was taken to Jacobi Medical Center in a critical but stable condition.
The 41-year-old lives in one of three homes reportedly owned by the Zottola family at the end of the street, The New York Post earlier reported.
One of the houses is where imprisoned Bonnano boss Vincent ‘Vinny Gorgeous’ Bonnano once reportedly housed his mistress.
At the top of one is a sign which says ‘Zottola’s court’. Another sign at the property reads: ‘OUR WALLS ARE BUILT THICK OUR LOVE FOR EACH IS THICKER.’
Zottola’s shooter remains at large, and the 41-year-old has made it clear he will not help investigators
The shooting took place soon after Zottola left his home in the family-owned compound in Locust Point
Police are now asking for public assistance in identifying the gunman, who is described as a black man last seen wearing a light colored cap, a black hooded sweatshirt, dark colored pants and black and white sneakers.
Officers say he was inside a red four door Nissan sedan with yellow license plates.
The call-out for assistance comes after Zottola made it clear to law enforcement he will not help the FBI catch his shooter.
Investigators swarmed the Locust Point property on Wednesday afternoon, just hours after the shooting, but were left with little to do after Zottola reportedly denied them access to cameras at the home, sources told the Post.
Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
The shooter is described as a black man, last seen wearing a light colored cap, black hooded sweatshirt and white sneakers. He escaped in a red Nissan with yellow license plates (pictured)
Zottola is an associate of Vincent ‘Vinny Gorgeous’ Bonnano (pictured), who was the head of the notorious crime family