Detectives arrested the alleged teenage gunman Thursday whom, they say, cut down a Harlem grandmother with a stray bullet fired from a machine gun during a brazen daylight shooting last week.
Photo by Dean Moses
Detectives arrested the alleged teenage gunman Thursday whom, they say, cut down a Harlem grandmother with a stray bullet fired from a machine gun during a brazen daylight shooting last week.
According to police sources, 18-year-old Faisil McCants has been charged for allegedly firing the bullet that killed 69-year-old Robin Wright.
Cops say McCants was one of three men who attempted to rob a man as he slept on a lawn chair on the corner of 109th Street and Madison Avenue in front of a deli at around 12:22 p.m. on Aug. 27. Police sources said the men, donning face masks, reportedly asked the victim if he “sold weed” before demanding all of his possessions. They then snatched his backpack containing marijuana before making a run for it.
However, law enforcement sources reported, their victim pulled out a firearm and chased them to 110th Street before they turned and fled toward Park Avenue. When the victim shot at the thieves, cops said, McCants allegedly returned fire with a machine gun, missing his target.
One of the bullets wound up striking Wright in the face as she walked nearby with a friend to get lunch.
“I had to look around and make sure I was alright. And I looked at my friend, I said: ‘Are you alright. Did you get shot?’ She said: ‘Yeah,’” Juanita Arnold, Wright’s friend, recalled. “That was the last thing she said to me. I watched my friend die,” Arnold added.
Wright, who used a walker to help her get around, collapsed on the sidewalk. Officers from the 23rd Precinct rushed to the scene and attempted to revive Wright, to no avail. EMS transported Wright to Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital, where she could not be saved and was pronounced dead.
Sources familiar with McCants’ arrest say he was cuffed while checking in with his probation officer on Sept. 4 by Homeland Security, and the NYPD also say he is no stranger to police.
McCants was arrested in April of 2023 for firing a gun at the back of the Thomas Jefferson Houses Tenants the month prior while still on probation. Authorities were able to track McCants through surveillance footage and they were later able to identify him through his social media.
“As a result of this defendant’s allegedly ruthless and utterly reckless violence, an innocent victim was gunned down in broad daylight while simply going about her daily life. New Yorkers deserve better—full stop. HSI New York—together with our partners at the NYPD and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York—will not rest until the other individuals involved are captured and, like this defendant, face the full force of the criminal justice system for their accused, unacceptable crimes,” HSI New York Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel said.
The murder of Wright shook the community. Her neighbors could be seen weeping with their heads in their hands in the aftermath of the slaying as cops combed over shell casings that littered the block. In addition to striking Wright, another stray bullet struck a nearby parked vehicle, shattering several windows.
McCants has been charged with murder, robbery, criminal possession of a weapon, and criminal possession of a firearm. He is also facing federal charges for allegedly using a machine gun on a Manhattan street.
Police are still hunting for the other suspects involved.
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