Times Square shooting suspect arrested in Florida: NYPD
Fox News' Alex Hogan reports police have arrested the suspect accused of opening fire in New York City’s Times Square, shooting three innocent bystanders, including a 4-year-old girl.
Police have arrested the suspect accused of opening fire in New York City’s Times Square over the weekend, shooting three innocent bystanders, including a 4-year-old girl, Fox News has confirmed.
Sources confirmed to Fox News that 31-year-old Farrakhan Muhammad was arrested Wednesday morning in Florida in connection with Saturday’s shooting.
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Muhammad was nabbed while eating fast food in a McDonald's parking lot in Starke, Florida, with his girlfriend and was cooperative with investigators when they arrested him, NYPD officials said Wednesday. He changed his appearance, particularly the way he styled his hair, after the shooting, police said.
NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said during a news conference Wednesday that investigators followed leads obtained from Crime Stoppers tips and "other investigative measures" to determine that Muhammad "was traveling out of state and heading south."
Times Square shooting suspect, Farrakhan Muhammad, was arrested in Florida, police said. (Bradford County Jail)
He is now in custody of the Starke Police Department, Essig said. Charges against him have not been released and it was not yet clear when he would be extradited to New York to face a judge.
Investigators are interviewing Muhammad's girlfriend as a possible person of interest.
On Saturday evening, a 4-year-old girl who was buying toys and two women, one of whom was a tourist, were in the area of West 44th Street and Seventh Avenue when they were struck by bullets meant for someone else.
New York Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said at the time that two to four men began arguing in the area when one pulled out a gun and began shooting. All three victims survived the attack.
Sources previously told Fox News that a man was seen on video raising his right arm and appearing to fire shots from a semi-automatic pistol. Police later recovered three shell casings in the area, sources said.
A witness told police he heard the shooter say "come get it" before firing three to five shots and running off, sources told Fox News. Sources identified him as "a CD hustler."
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NYPD Chief Hank Sautner said Wednesday that after the shooting, investigators conducted "an exhaustive search" of number video sources, tracking Muhammad from the shooting location to where he is believed to reside with his girlfriend at on West 42nd Street
"Based on that video, we saw him exiting the location, discarding some evidence which was since recovered and then making his way out of there, heading into parts unknown at that point," Sautner said.
Prior to his Wednesday arrest, video surveillance showed Muhammad and his girlfriend in Fayetteville, North Carolina, buying dog food and other items at a local Walmart, officials said. Investigators also linked him to several addresses in Florida.
Essig said Muhammad's brother confirmed to investigators that he was the intended target.
He added that he believed Muhammad and his brother "are CD vendor sellers in the area," but added: "That does not excuse anything."
Police are still investigating the motive.
Muhammad was booked into the Bradford County Jail shortly after 2 p.m. local time Wednesday, records show. He is listed as an "out of state fugitive."
Fox News' Alex Hogan contributed to this report.
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