(Reuters) – New York City police on Sunday arrested a man suspected of randomly firing at people while riding a scooter through the streets of Brooklyn and Queens earlier in the day, killing an 87-year-old man and wounding three other men, officials said.
Police said they had yet to establish a motive or find any connection between the victims, who were all shot within half an hour of each other during the rampage, which police said was conducted on an illegal scooter.
“Video shows he’s not targeting anybody, he’s not following anybody. As he’s driving on the scooter he’s randomly shooting,” Assistant Chief Joseph Kenny of the New York City Police Department told a press conference.
Video of the suspect captured from the first incident was sent to every police officer’s cellphone, and the 25-year-old suspect was arrested less than two hours later by officers who recognized him riding on a main thoroughfare.
Officers recovered a 9 mm handgun with an extended magazine and additional ammunition, Kenny said.
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The victim who died was an 87-year-old man shot in the back, Kenny said. The New York Daily News, citing a friend of the victim, identified him as Hamod Ali Saeidi, who walked several miles every day to check in on family and friends.
The other victims were a 44-year-old man shot in the cheek who was in critical condition, a 63-year-old man shot in the right shoulder in stable condition, and a 21-year-old man who was hit in the shoulder and was not as seriously wounded, Kenny said.
The suspect also fired at a group of people and missed. At each location, 9 mm shell casings were recovered, Kenny said.
Police declined to identify the suspect but said he had one prior arrest on his record.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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