The man suspected in the shooting in Times Square on Saturday night, where two women and a 4-year-old girl were injured, has been detained in Jacksonville, Florida, according to two law enforcement officers from our sister network News 4.
Officials say Farrakhan Muhammad was with his girlfriend, who is now being questioned as they investigate whether she was helping house a fugitive.
The two reportedly left New York City after the shooting, according to a senior law enforcement official, though it’s unclear if the woman knew he was wanted after the Times Square shooting. No further details about his arrest were immediately available.
According to the senior law enforcement official, New York City Police detectives checked cameras showing him leaving Times Square after the shooting and heading to a hotel in West 42nd Street. There he changed his clothes and was seen dating his girlfriend, the senior police official said.
The two are believed to be heading south and there was a tip Tuesday that the duo was in North Carolina, authorities said. New information emerged Wednesday and Muhammad was captured in Jacksonville in the morning, the senior law enforcement official said. No further details were available on the circumstances surrounding his apprehension.
Police had been searching for Muhammad for days in connection with the shooting in the heart of Manhattan.
Police noted that Muhammad was allegedly trying to shoot his brother after an argument at the time, but failed, injuring the three innocent victims.
All three victims are still in recovery. Each, a 4-year-old Hispanic girl from Brooklyn, a 43-year-old Hispanic woman from New Jersey, and a 23-year-old girl visiting the city for Mother’s Day from Rhode Island suffered non-life threatening gunshot wounds.