Dispute over duck sauce may have led to Chinese food deliveryman’s death

A food deliveryman was fatally shot in New York City over the week and the owner of the Chinese restaurant believes a disgruntled customer who previously had been in a rage over the amount of duck sauce he got with an order is the shooter, officials said.

Around 9:30 p.m. on April 30, Zhiwen Yan, 45, was making a delivery near 108th Street and 67th Drive in Forest Hills when he was shot once in the chest and knocked off his scooter. He was rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The shooting may have started from a duck-sauce dispute that occurred late last year, according to Kai Yang, owner of Great Wall, the New York Post reported. After that dispute, the owner said a series of increasingly disturbing encounters with the angry customer took place.

Yang said, “In November, he came in to pick up his order. We have duck sauce out, serve yourself. He takes all of it, full bin, entire bin. He takes his order and leaves. He came back and says, angry, ‘I need more duck sauce.’ I say, ‘OK, OK, it’s here. Help yourself.’ I give him more. He say, ‘No, I want my money back.’ I say, ‘Sorry, it’s COVID, I can’t take your order back after, and I give you more duck sauce.’ He calls police! They came. They ask me if I can refund his money. I say, ‘No, I can not.’”

After that incident, Yang said he started seeing his car getting damaged, and on Jan. 28, he confronted him while damaging the car and the customer pulled on a gun on him. He went back inside the restaurant and called the police. The customer was eventually wrestled to the ground by employees, including the deliveryman Yan.

Despite Yang calling the police about the angry customer, he was never charged with anything and he has not been named a suspect in Yan’s death yet either. Detectives have said they are looking to question the customer regarding the incident.

According to authorities, the description of the vehicle fleeing the scene of the fatal shooting matches that of the customer’s car. While the shooting took place about a half-mile from the restaurant, this customer has an address in the other direction, about two miles from the eatery, the New York Post reported. However, he may possibly have one more locally, but it wasn’t clear where.

The customer was known for being trouble in the area, as other businesses have had issues with him. For now, the Great Wall restaurant remains closed and Yang said they “are not opening till [Yan’s killer] is caught. I am worried.”

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