A teen suspect was taken into custody Thursday for the stray bullet slaying of a 69-year-old East Harlem lady utilizing a walker, cops mentioned.
Faisil McCants, 18, was nabbed in a joint effort by Homeland Safety and the NYPD Violent Crimes Process Pressure on Thursday morning, a police supply mentioned.
Police examine after harmless bystander Robin Wright was fatally shot at Park Ave. and a hundred and tenth St. Aug. 27. (Barry Williams / New York Day by day Information)
McCants is being charged in federal court docket with armed theft and possessing and utilizing a machine gun, in accordance with the federal grievance in opposition to him.
“As alleged, after robbing a drug dealer at gunpoint, Faisil McCants fired a machine gun in the middle of the day on the busy streets of New York City, killing another person,” U.S. Legal professional Jay Clayton mentioned in a press release. “The death of that wholly innocent bystander, a 69-year-old woman who was merely standing with her walker on the sidewalk in East Harlem, is as tragic as it is senseless. It is unacceptable.”
Robin Wright died after being struck within the head by a stray bullet close to E. a hundred and tenth St. and Madison Ave. about 12:25 p.m. Aug. 27, down the block from the residence she shared along with her grandson.
Robin Wright was fatally shot at Park Ave. and a hundred and tenth St. in East Harlem on Aug. 27. (Fb)
Legislation enforcement officers are nonetheless in search of at the least one different individual concerned within the crime, sources mentioned.
The day of the capturing, McCants and two at present unidentified folks robbed a person promoting marijuana in entrance of a deli on the nook of E. 109th St. and Madison Ave., federal authorities allege within the grievance in opposition to McCants.
After a quick scuffle, McCants and his companions grabbed the person’s marijuana-filled backpacks and ran north on Madison Ave. earlier than turning east on a hundred and tenth St., as the person they robbed chased after them. McCants, recognized within the grievance because the “tallest of the individuals,” then pulled out a black gun from his proper sweatshirt pocket, “pointed it west on E. 110th St. and began firing in the general direction” of the drug seller, who was nonetheless in pursuit, the grievance states.
One of many bullets struck Wright, in accordance with the grievance. Authorities recovered 15 bullet-shell casing on the scene.
“Faisil McCants allegedly armed himself with a machine gun during a robbery and opened fire in broad daylight, killing a 69-year-old mother, grandmother and beloved East Harlem community member,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch mentioned in a press release. “Robin Wright was an innocent bystander who lost her life to gun violence — and today, justice was served in her memory.”
Wright and a buddy have been heading residence with Chinese language meals and had simply turned the nook onto E. a hundred and tenth St. and have been strolling in direction of Madison Ave. when the buddy, Junita Arnold, noticed three males in hoodies operating throughout the avenue.
“I was right,” Arnold added. “Next thing, I heard six to seven gunshots and I’m standing there. I looked and my friend is down on the ground.”
Cops mentioned two crooks robbed a person who chased them down and shot at them however didn’t hit anybody. The robbers then fired again and one among their bullets struck Wright, police mentioned.
Arnold checked herself to see if she was shot after which turned to Wright, who was mendacity on the bottom, blood pouring from her mouth.
“I said, ‘Oh, my God! Oh, you are all right, Miss Robin?’” she recalled. “And she said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Are you shot?’ She said, ‘Yes.’”
“And that was the only thing she said to me,” Arnold added. “I thank the Lord that I’m still here. But my friend is not here — and we were together side by side.”
Medics rushed Wright to Mount Sinai Hospital however she couldn’t be saved.
Wright had returned residence from a nursing residence in July, across the time she celebrated her 69th birthday, Arnold mentioned. She had solely been utilizing the walker for a couple of month, to assist her regain feeling within the nerves of her proper leg. Her doting grandson was staying along with her whereas she recovered.
The gunshots have been fired off at E. a hundred and tenth St. close to Park Ave., nearly on the alternative finish of the block from the place Wright and Arnold have been strolling, Arnold mentioned. “It’s a distance,” she mentioned. “I don’t understand how the bullet hit her. All I know was that I was right next to her.”
“We didn’t expect for any of that to happen,” she added. “That [bullet] wasn’t for her. We were minding our business.”
Authorities arrested McCants, who was identified to police from prior interactions in 2023, after observing him on surveillance digital camera earlier than, throughout and after the crime, in accordance with the federal grievance.
Evaluation by an Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent of surveillance video and the 15 shell casings discovered on the scene decided that the firearm used was a machine gun, and that the set off was pulled solely as soon as, the grievance states.
If convicted, McCants faces a most of 20 years in jail for the theft, which concerned interstate commerce, and at the least 30 years in jail for possessing a machine gun.
Initially Revealed: September 4, 2025 at 3:39 PM EDT
