NYPD: Messiah Nantwi, 21, charged with murder in Harlem smoke shop shooting
NEW YORK -- Police have arrested the suspect accused in a deadly shooting inside a Harlem smoke shop.
The alleged gunman was wanted for another fatal shooting that happened just hours earlier.
Sources told CBS2 on Tuesday the suspect was out on bail when the shootings happened.
Surveillance video shows Sunday's fatal encounter. Two men are seen talking inside a smoke shop on Malcolm X Boulevard when one pulls out a gun and shoots the victim, identified as 36-year-old Brandon Brunson of Brooklyn, victim point blank.
On Tuesday, police arrested 21-year-old Messiah Nantwi.
Police sources told CBS2 investigators believe he also shot and killed a 19-year-old gang rival in Harlem earlier that same day. To make matters worse, Nantwi was out on bail at the time on attempted murder charges. Prosecutors allege Nantwi shot at an NYPD sergeant and two officers who tried to stop him from spraying graffiti on a building in the South Bronx.
The officers were not injured.
READ MORE: Calls for Harlem smoke shop to close after gunman shot man in head inside store
So why was this suspect out on the streets after being indicted on attempted murder of police officers? The Bronx District Attorney's Office told CBS2 the judge in that case set his bail at $500,000, then later reduced it to $300,000, despite the DA's objection.
The defendant only had to pay 10% of that, or $30,000, which he was able to do.
"I don't know what they were taking into consideration but this guy should've been in jail sitting for his trial," said Michael Alcazar, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Alcazar says while jail sentences for attempted murder of an officer can be about 10 years, he's not surprised this case is still awaiting trial two years after the shooting.
"I think it's just a backlog of work and, sadly, that's what they're taking into consideration over the safety of New York City citizens, so it's failing. The system is failing," Alcazar said.
Nantwi is now in custody awaiting arraignment for the Harlem shootings.
