Times Square Shooting Suspect Arrested In Florida After Manhunt

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — After a four-day manhunt, the suspect in Saturday's shooting that injured four people in the heart of Times Square was arrested in Florida on Wednesday, police announced.

Farrakhan Muhammad, 31, was found by federal marshals Wednesday morning eating french fries inside a car at a McDonald's parking lot in Starke, Fla., about an hour southwest of Jacksonville, authorities said.

"While there is no joy today, there is justice," said Police Commissioner Dermot Shea during a news conference.

Muhammad, who sold CDs in Times Square, is accused of pulling out a gun shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday and firing at his brother, a fellow CD vendor, police said.

UPDATE: @NYPDDetectives have identified the suspected wanted in connection to the shooting in Times Square on Saturday, May 8th.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Farrakhan Muhammad please call @NYPDTips at #800577TIPS. He’s 31 years old, 5'6" and 160lbs.s pic.twitter.com/hneBxZzgbc
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) May 11, 2021

Instead, the bullets hit three innocent bystanders: a 23-year-old woman visiting from Rhode Island, a 43-year-old woman from New Jersey and a four-year-old girl from Brooklyn who underwent surgery after being shot in the leg.

All three had been released from the hospital by Monday morning and are expected to make a full recovery.

Muhammad's arrest came one day after police first identified him as the suspect, circulating what appeared to be a mugshot as well as surveillance footage showing him near the scene of Saturday's shooting.

Police revealed new details about the manhunt on Wednesday, saying they tracked Muhammad to a building on West 42nd Street near 10th Avenue in the minutes after the shooting.

There, Muhammad allegedly discarded his clothes and hit the road, heading south with a woman believed to be his girlfriend, NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig told reporters Wednesday.

The two were spotted outside a Walmart in Fayettevile, N.C., where they picked up supplies including dog food, Essig said.

Muhammad was identified as the suspect thanks in part to "numerous tips" that flooded the NYPD's hotline in the hours after the shooting, Essig said. Police sergeants also spotted Muhammad's brother in the neighborhood later Saturday night and were able to take him in for questioning, Essig said.

Police are still investigating what motivated the shooting.

The crime has been seized upon by candidates for office, including mayoral front-runners Eric Adams and Andrew Yang, who both said it showed that the city could not afford to defund the police.

Skeptics of increased policing, meanwhile, pointed out that officers were unable to stop the shooting despite Times Square being one of the city's most heavily policed areas.

Crime has risen by about 15 percent this year in the police precinct that includes Times Square, according to NYPD statistics. Categories seeing an uptick compared to the same period in 2020 include assault, robbery and burglary — though last year's numbers were likely deflated as they included the early months of coronavirus lockdown.

Previous coverage:

• Manhunt For Times Square Shooting Suspect Continues
• 3 Shot In Times Square, Including Child; Gunman On Loose: NYPD