On Saturday, a man on a moped in New York City went on a shooting rampage that resulted in the death of one person. Three others were also injured. Police said a suspect was in custody.
Police say that the attacks, which appeared random in Brooklyn and Queens at first glance, began exactly at 11:10 am. They ended two hours later with the arrest of a suspect in Queens.
Edward Caban, the first deputy commissioner of New York Police revealed during a press conference that a man with a previous arrest was named by police. He also had a semiautomatic 9mm handgun and an extended magazine as well as an illegal scooter with no plates.
Police sources say that detectives did not receive any response from the suspect. The man appears to be suffering from emotional and mental issues. NBC reported that it’s unclear if he had a professional mental evaluation.
At the presser, Assistant Chief Joseph Kenny said that the 21-year-old man shot in Brooklyn was the first victim. He is expected to live.
Police said that 17 minutes later an 87-year-old man, located in Queens about three miles away, was shot in his back. The man was taken to hospital immediately, and he died there.
Kenny stated that the perpetrator had been described as a man on a motorbike who fired at a salon of nails on Jamaica Avenue.
The police reported that in another attack, a gunshot was fired near the same location or at a similar distance. However, no injuries were reported. The assistant chief stated that “numerous witnesses” described a male riding a scooter who was randomly shooting at people standing around the corner.
In the same Queens neighborhood, a 44-year-old man was also shot in the head less than one mile away. The man was in critical condition when he arrived at the hospital.
According to the police, at 11:37 am a victim aged 63 was shot once in his shoulder. He was later stabilized by a hospital.
The claim was that four 9-mm casings had been recovered at this scene.
Kenny explained that “a blurry image from a security camera of a man on a motorbike was sent out to all the cops in the streets.”
According to NBC, the image has been distributed to police officers as part of a program that alerts their mobile devices until the officer acknowledges seeing the picture.
Police say that the 25-year-old suspect was arrested at 1:10 pm by officers, about 10 blocks away from the recent incident when they recognized him in the security photograph.
The last time the shooter was seen, it had been over 90 minutes. However, the identity of the perpetrator remained a mystery.
The detectives will investigate the history of the weapon and whether it’s a “ghost gun”, a term used for guns that are 3D-printed from composite materials and can be fired without serial numbers and background checks.
Motive seemed to be the biggest mystery.
Kenny stated, “At the moment we do not know what motivated this crime.” It seems random when you consider the pedigree and demographics of the victims. “They’re all unique at this moment.”
Everytown is a non-profit organization that suggests shootings at random are not as common as thought. They call for a gun law based on evidence. In the US, mass shootings are those that involve at least four victims, and the perpetrator is a spouse, former partner, or family member.
Gun Violence Archive counts Saturday’s violence in New York, as a mass shooting. The archive shows that since the beginning of the year, more than 360 mass killings have met this definition.
