Brandon Woodard: California law student shot in head in New York was victim of hit

A 31-year-old law student who was shot once in the back of the head on a crowded New York City street was the victim of a targeted 'hit,' police say.

Brandon Lincoln Woodard, who was visiting from Los Angeles, was murdered in broad daylight on Monday afteoon by a man who stalked him for 40 minutes in the busy Columbus Circle area of Midtown Manhattan.

Moment of attack: Brandon Woodard is seen texting on his phone moments before his killer, on the left, pulls a gun from his pocket and shoots him in the head in broad daylight

Intent: The gunman is seen in khaki pants and a dark top loitering next to the grey car as he waits for his victim to come walking down the street

The cold-blooded killer simply tued and walked away, then got into a waiting Lincoln MKZ sedan and fled. He is still at large.

'It is one shot right in the back of the head. It is a hit, no question about it,' a police source told WABC-TV. 

Woodard was an aspiring rapper and his father told the New York Daily News he was in law school.

He also had a four-year-old daughter in Los Angeles. According to NBC, he most recently lived in Chicago.

Brandon Lincoln Woodard was a law student at Loyola Marymount University.

In 2009, he was arrested for stealing several bottles of wine from a market and has an assault and battery charge from as recent as June 2012.

'This is a shock,' Woodard's father J Lincoln Woodard told the Daily News. 'He was a very good son, loving.'

He said his son's legal trouble was behind him and that he was studying to become a lawyer. However Mr Woodward, who is divorced from the victim's mother, said he has not seen his son since his 1999 high school graduation.

Police say surveillance cameras recorded the shooting and that other cameras in the area recorded the killer waiting for Woodard for at least 40 minutes. After reviewing the footage from the area they believe they have a picture of the gunman.

The suspect, described as a black male wearing a dark coat, dark hood and khaki pants, hopped into the passenger side of a light-colored Lincoln MKZ sedan NYPD seconds later spokesman Paul Browne said.

A silver, semi-automatic gun was used.

Investigators are probing a possible connection to drug dealing. Police are also looking at Woodard's ties to the music industry. He once claimed he was roughed up by bodyguards working for R&B star Usher.

Police investigate the scene where a man was fatally shot in the back of the head in New York on Monday outside a school near Columbus Circle

Sadet Kolo, 36, who was skateboarding near the victim told the New York Daily News: 'It came out of nowhere. I tued around and saw a man next to me, on the ground. I called 911 and told him "Hang on. Help is on the way"

Police continue their investigation. Woodard's father J Lincoln Woodard said his son's legal trouble was behind him and that he was studying to become a lawyer

'The victim was walking westbound on West 58th Street,' Mr Browne said. 'The shooter walked up behind him and shot him at close range.

'At one point the victim looked behind him then continued walking before he was shot. There was no rush. He just walked up to him, shot him and walked away.'

Witness Benny Harris, 44, a pedicab tour guide told DNAInfo: 'We heard a single shot. We all flinched. It was loud. We looked down the block. We saw a guy on the ground.

'I ran and banged on the door of the nearby firehouse. Within a minute three firefighters were working on him. They tore his clothes open and had that machine to revive people.

Standing guard: Police say surveillance cameras recorded the shooting and that other cameras in the area recorded the killer waiting for Woodard for at least 40 minutes

Police secure a sidewalk during the investigation of the scene after a man was shot dead at close range by an unknown gunman

The suspect, described as a black male wearing a dark coat, dark hood and khaki pants, hopped into the passenger side of a light-colored Lincoln MKZ sedan NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said

'He was facing up. You could see an iPhone and headphones laying next to him. So it wasn't a robbery, clearly.'

Sadet Kolo, 36, who was skateboarding near the victim told the New York Daily News: 'It came out of nowhere. I tued around and saw a man next to me, on the ground. I called 911 and told him "Hang on. Help is on the way".

'He was bleeding bad. Blood was gushing out of his eyeball, his nose, mouth, everywhere. He was talking a little. Or trying to. He was alive for good two minutes.

A police officer gestures to pedestrians to use the other side of the street at the site of a shooting near Columbus Circle. A silver, semi-automatic gun was used in the attack

Police are hunting for a suspect who simply tued and walked away following the killing

Crime scene: New York 1 reports that Woodard had a criminal past - including charges for cocaine possession and hit-and-run driving

'You could not even see anything on one side of his face. It was gone. Half of his face was gone. Poor b*****d. I didn’t even see a shooter. I hope they catch him.'

David Mirambeau, 29, a delivery man for United Parcel Service Inc. told the Wall Street Joual: 'I just heard the shot. He was gasping for air, he was still alive.'

In 2003, Woodard received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, the school confirmed. Prior to this, he attended the private Campbell Hall High School.