16-year-old suspect who ‘shot and injured Marine’ in Times Square is charged with attempted murder

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday

Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

A teenager, accompanied by his mother, has turned himself in to police after shooting a Marine in Times Square.

The 16-year-old boy, who was named for legal reasons, is facing a charge of attempted murder following the shooting of Samuel Poulin, 21, last month in Times Square, near the Marriot Hotel.

The Marine was shot in the back by a ricocheting bullet from Mr Darden’s gun and was taken to hospital but did not suffer serious injuries. He was believed to be in the city from his home in upstate New York to attend a christening.

According a statement from the New York Police Department, the 16 year-old, due to his age, will be indicted as a minor on the charges of attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon .

When asked to comment, his mother declined, according to theNew York Daily News.

She told reporters, “I don’t want to say anything about my son,” as she left the police station on 7 July.

When the teenager was asked if he had a message for the family, he said, “Yeah I got a message for the family”, before mumbling something that could not be understood, according to the the New York Post.

NYPD officers told the Post that the shooting happened after a conflict between the teenager and a group of street performers. The teenager has been arrested five times prior, however the reasons were not made public.

From the same period last year, there has been a 27 per cent increase in murders from gun violence in New York City, according to police data. The pandemic prompted a 75 per cent increase in cities across the state, according to the New York Times.

On 6 July, the state’s governor Andrew Cuomo declared a gun violence emergency, pledging more than £138 million to tackle the problem, but acknowledged that it was a nationwide issue.

He said in his address, “Just like we did with COVID, New York is going to lead the nation once again with a comprehensive approach to combating and preventing gun violence, and our first step is acknowledging the problem with a first-in-the-nation disaster emergency on gun violence. When we see an injustice we don’t look the other way, we stand up and fight it because that’s the New York way.”

The new Democratic mayoral primary winner Eric Adams, a 22-year veteran of the NYPD, asked what took Mr Cuomo so long to act.

‘My first question is, what took so long? And why has it taken us so long, watching these babies die, year after year after year? No one seems to care,” he said while appearing on CBS Radio.