Suspect in Times Square shooting charged with attempted murder

The suspect in a shooting at Times Square earlier this month that left three people injured has been charged with attempted murder.

In an update on Friday shared with The Hill, the New York Police Department (NYPD) said that 31-year-old Farrakhan Muhammad faces nearly a dozen charges in connection with the shooting.

Muhammad is accused of injuring a 4-year-old girl, a 23-year old woman and a 44-year-old woman in the May 8 incident. Police said at the time that the victims were not the intended target.

In addition to attempted murder, he is also charged with three counts of assault, three counts of reckless endangerment and four counts of criminal use of a firearm.

NYPD and U.S. Marshals first announced on May 12 that Muhammad was apprehended at a McDonalds in Starke, Fla.

Chief of Detectives James Essig said in a news conference at the time Muhammad was with a woman believed to be his girlfriend, and was taken into custody without incident.

Essig said he was first spotted in Fayetteville, N.C., indicating that he was traveling South. Muhammad was arrested without incident in Florida. 

Authorities further said that Muhammad was identified by his brother, who told officers that he was the intended target of the shooting.

According to NBC New York, Muhammad made his initial court appearance the day after his arrest. He is currently in New York.

Muhammad’s girlfriend, Kristine Vergara, was also arrested and accused of helping harbor a fugitive. NBC New York reported that she admitted in court that Muhammad was evading police. 

But after his arrest, Muhammad told WCJB in a jailhouse interview from Florida that he wasn’t in New York City at the time at the shooting, saying he had left for New Jersey.

He had just been evicted from his apartment, and told the news outlet that his girlfriend’s family said they could stay with them in Florida.