Just after picking up his car at Penn State Auto Repair at Boyd and Arch streets on Friday afternoon, a Williamsport man was killed when he was shot multiple times at close range by a masked gunman outside the business, according to city police and a witness.

The victim, 31-year-old William Michael Blackwell, was rushed to the Williamsport Regional Medical Center and then flown to Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, where he was pronounced dead on arrival, police said.

“I saw a car pull up in front of a house. A man jumped out, wearing a ski mask. He approached the victim and shot him three times,” the witness said as she watched from her vehicle at a nearby intersection.

The victim fell to the ground, the witness said, adding “when he moved, the gunman shot him a fourth time.”

The shooting occurred on the south side of the business on Boyd Street about 3:15 p.m., police said. The victim was laying on the ground near his white Pontiac Grand Prix, according to police sources.

The female witness, who did not give her name, said the victim “was leaning into the back (seat) of his car, like he was trying to get something” when the gunman approached him.

The shooting began after the victim turned around and faced the gunman, she said.

Police confirmed that more than a half a dozen shots were fired.

The suspect, who was described as black, at least six feet tall and wearing black clothing, jumped back in his car and fled the scene, police were told.

The getaway vehicle was described as a dark-colored sedan. Much of Boyd Street, from Depot Street east, was roped off with tape as officers photographed the scene and put down small orange cones to mark pieces of evidence, including numerous shell casings.

The vehicle was towed to the police department’s impound lot.

Police said they did not believe this was a random act. Blackwell, whose last known address was of the 600 block of Wildwood Boulevard, was arrested in February on attempted homicide-related charges for his alleged involvement in a daytime shooting that occurred in the area of Park Avenue and Grier Street on Oct. 29. 2015, city police said.

However, the case collapsed months later and Blackwell was released after the alleged victim, Antwan McClain, who suffered two gunshot wounds to the back, disappeared.

The lead investigator in that case testified in March at Blackwell’s preliminary hearing that McClain told him he would not show up for the hearing. McClain missed the hearing.

Although he picked out Blackwell’s picture when shown a photo array of possible suspects, McClain made it very clear to investigators he would not testify against the man.

Police believe Blackwell allegedly shot McClain in retaliation after Blackwell learned that McClain was reportedly setting him up to be robbed.

Friday’s homicide, the city’s fifth this year, was several blocks east of where a 50-year-old mother and her 25-year-old son were shot to death in their home on Poplar Street on Oct. 31. Two men, who allegedly entered the house to steal drugs and money, have been jailed on homicide-related charges.