A gunman killed one particular person and wounded 3 others on Saturday as he drove a scooter throughout Brooklyn and Queens, randomly firing at teams of other folks and at retail outlets in a chaotic two-hour stretch earlier than the police arrested him, the New York Police Department stated.
The 25-year-old gunman, whose identify used to be now not launched by means of the government, started his rampage round 11 a.m. in Brooklyn the place he shot a 21-year-old guy in the left shoulder from in the back of, prompting officials to reply to the scene close to the nook of Ashford Street and Arlington Avenue, Joseph Kenny, an assistant leader on the detective bureau, (*1*).
Seventeen mins later, a document got here of any other taking pictures, this time in Queens, which reflected the only in Brooklyn, Chief Kenny stated: a person on a scooter firing a gun.
At the second one assault, the gunman fatally shot an 87-year-old guy close to a nail salon on Jamaica Avenue close to the Richmond Hills phase of Queens, the police stated.
A cause for the shootings remained unclear on Saturday, regardless that the assaults looked to be random, Chief Kenny stated, noting that the demographics of the sufferers have been all other.
Once the police learned the primary two shootings have been most likely attached, officials started a well-liked seek for the assailant, the appearing police commissioner, Edward A. Caban, stated on the news convention.
As officials answered to the murder, they have been alerted to a 3rd taking pictures at a store in Queens.
No one used to be struck, however witnesses described to the police how a person on a scooter have been randomly firing at a gaggle of other folks status on a nook on Jamaica Avenue, Chief Kenny stated.
At about 11:35 a.m., 8 mins after the 3rd taking pictures, the gunman shot a 44-year-old guy in the cheek, the police stated. The sufferer used to be taken to a medical institution and used to be in important situation on Saturday night time, Chief Kenny stated.
Less than a minute later, the gunman shot a 63-year-old guy in his proper shoulder, Chief Kenny stated, including that the sufferer used to be hospitalized and in solid situation.
The names of the sufferers have now not been launched.
Witnesses once more described how the assailant had fired whilst driving a scooter, the police stated.
The gunman, who has one prior arrest in New York City, used to be discovered by means of officials on the nook of Sutphin Boulevard and 94th Avenue in Queens and arrested at 1:10 p.m., Chief Kenny stated. Officers recovered a 9-millimeter pistol and a longer mag from the gunman, the police stated.
Video of the shootings display that the gunman used to be now not concentrated on or following somebody — simply riding his scooter and randomly taking pictures in a kind of six-mile stretch of the town, Chief Kenny stated.
Marisol Yepes, a 17-year-old technician at Zol Nails on Jamaica Avenue, stated that she used to be operating on the salon when she and her co-workers heard what she believed to be “fireworks because it wasn’t as loud as a gunshot normally would sound.”
They went out of doors and noticed a person at the sidewalk, bleeding, Ms. Yepes stated.
Ms. Yepes stated the home windows of May’s Beauty, a shop around the boulevard, have been shattered by means of gunfire.
Security cameras at Zoom Zoom Wireless, a cellular phone retailer around the intersection from May’s Beauty, captured pictures of the taking pictures, in line with the shop’s proprietor, Jasvir Singh.
He stated the pictures presentations how the suspect “took a U-turn” and then loaded his gun and “just started shooting randomly” at two other folks.
The taking pictures spree got here days after Commissioner Caban defined at a news convention how shootings in New York City had dropped by means of about 25 % throughout the first part of this yr when compared with the similar length ultimate yr, extending a downward development after a spike in violent crime all the way through the pandemic.
The drop, which reflected identical decreases around the United States, got here amid well-liked fears about crime in the town, which officers have blamed for maintaining staff and suburbanites cloistered in their houses.
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