Gunman on scooter terrorizes Queens and Brooklyn
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The scooter allegedly used by Thomas Abreu in the six shooting incidents in Queens and Brooklyn on Saturday. Photo via NYPD
By Ryan Schwach
Queens and Brooklyn are reeling this week after a gunman fired randomly at pedestrians from a scooter on Saturday, killing one man in Queens and wounding three others.
Police say that Thomas Abreu, a 25-year-old from Brooklyn, shot four people – one in Brooklyn and three in Queens – on Saturday, killing 87-year-old Hamod Ali Saeidi, who was out on a walk on Jamaica Avenue in Richmond Hill.
Surveillance footage of the attacks show Abreu drive up next to his victims and shoot them at point blank range.
According to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, Abreu was first seen on surveillance tape on Ashford Street and Arlington Avenue in the Cypress Hills section of Brooklyn on a scooter and wearing a green shirt.
He shot a pedestrian in the back and sped off.
The first victim, a 21-year-old male, was taken to Brookdale Hospital in stable condition.
Around 16 minutes later, Abreu allegedly shot Saeidi in the back at 108th Street and Jamaica Avenue in Richmond Hill. Saeidi would later be pronounced dead at Jamaica Hospital.
A neighbor and friend of Saeidi told the Daily News that the 87-year-old loved walking, and did so everyday.
“He was walking all the time. He always used to tell me he was so proud to walk: ‘I’m doing 3 miles a day. I’m doing 4 miles a day,’ and so on and so forth,” Avraham Gaon told the News.
Goan also told the tabloid that his friend always had a smile and was an overall loving person.
Abreu’s rampage did not stop there.
On the same block just a minute later, he shot at another pedestrian and missed, no one was injured.
Just moments after that, about a mile down the road, he pulled up to a parked minivan at 126th Street and Hillside Avenue and shot the 44-year-old driver in the head. The victim is currently at Jamaica Hospital in critical condition.
After firing shots at another scooter rider on 131st Street and Jamaica, he shot another victim, a 63-year-old man, in the shoulder three blocks away. That victim is in stable condition at Jamaica Hospital.
In total, Abreu’s rampage included six separate incidents and lasted nearly two hours before he was apprehended at 1 p.m.
In a press conference, acting police Commissioner Edward Caban said that once they realized the first two shootings were connected, they mobilized officers into a boroughwide search, focusing on thoroughfares.
“Our hearts go out to all the families affected by the senseless violence,” Caban said. “The shooter in these connected incidents used an illegal scooter that did not have a license plate to move from one location to the next.”
Caban also said that the pistol Abreu used had an extended magazine attached.
The gun, with an extended magazine, allegedly used by Thomas Abreu during a shooting spree in Queens and Brooklyn on Saturday. Photo via NYPD
According to the DA, NYPD officers saw Abreu at Sutphin Boulevard and Archer Avenue riding his scooter wearing a green shirt. He was apprehended after a short foot pursuit, and the pistol was found inside the scooter, police said.
“The streets of two boroughs were turned into scenes of terror as this defendant allegedly rode his scooter, shooting indiscriminately at pedestrians and others,” Katz said in a statement. “Thank you to the NYPD for quickly apprehending the suspect. My office will hold him fully accountable and seek justice for the victims.”
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards will be holding a vigil on Tuesday night in honor of Saeidi.
“Another day, another example of an everyday activity becoming a life-and-death endeavor in America,” said Richards. “This time, it was a beloved senior right here in Richmond Hill who was killed for having the audacity to take a simple Saturday stroll through the community he called home for decades. Queens’ collective heart breaks for Mr. Saeidi’s family and friends, and we pray that our three neighbors wounded in this shooting spree make full physical, mental and emotional recoveries.”
Richards says that the shootings are evidence that more needs to be done when it comes to addressing mental health and gun violence in the city.
“We’ve made significant progress as a city in reducing shooting incidents, addressing our mental health crisis and draining the tributaries that feed the river of gun violence our society has been swimming through,” added Richards. “But Saturday’s shootings show us there is so much more to be done. Tomorrow night, we come together to mourn, but also to recommit ourselves to the work ahead.”
Abreu was arraigned on Monday on charges of murder in the second degree, four counts of attempted murder in the second degree, two counts of assault in the first degree and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. He faces 25-years to life in prison.
