New York : A scooter-riding gunman killed an 87-year-old man and wounded three others in a string of random shootings that stretched across two New York City boroughs, police said.
A 25-year-old man was taken into custody without incident and his identity was not revealed by police, Assistant Police Chief Joseph Kenny said at a news conference on Saturday. A 9-mm handgun with an extended magazine and a scooter were recovered.
“We don’t know the motive. It seems his acts were random,” Kenny said.
The shootings began around 11:10 am when someone on a scooter shot a 21-year-old man in the shoulder in Brooklyn. He was brought to a hospital and is expected to survive, police said.
Seventeen minutes later, an 87-year-old man was shot multiple times in the Richmond Hill area of Queens. He later died at a hospital.
Eight minutes later, a 44-year-old man was shot in the face. He was in critical condition at Jamaica Hospital Medical Centre.
About one minute later, a 63-year-old man was shot in the torso. He was in stable condition at a hospital.
The number of people wounded by gunfire surged in New York City during the pandemic and remains stubbornly high, and the city has also confronted a series of high-profile crimes.
Mayor Eric Adams, a former New York City police captain, has stressed the importance of getting guns off the streets.