(PatriotWise.com)- The man suspected of shooting and killing a stranger on the New York City subway was charged with second-degree murder on Wednesday and was remanded without bail.
Andrew Abdullah, 25, was arrested the day on Tuesday in the murder of 48-year-old Daniel Enriquez who was shot on the Q train on his way to Sunday brunch.
After shooting Enriquez, Abdullah fled the subway, ditching the gun by handing it to a homeless man who later sold it to another vagrant for drugs. The NYPD announced on Tuesday that they had tracked down the Luger 9 mm handgun used in the murder. The weapon had been stolen in Virginia in 2019.
After he was taken into custody, NYPD disclosed that officers had briefly stopped Abdullah after the shooting but after taking his name, the officers let him go because he wasn’t wearing the sweatshirt described in the description they were given.
It wasn’t until after viewing the surveillance video that police realized the gunman had removed his sweatshirt after the shooting.
Abdullah, a career criminal and reported gang member, had sought to surrender to New York City Mayor Eric Adams with the help of a Brooklyn bishop with ties to the mayor and the Legal Aid Society.
Instead, the fugitive task force arrived and arrested Abdullah outside of the Legal Aid Society’s offices.
The Legal Aid Society blasted the NYPD for its “completely unwarranted and inappropriate” decision to apprehend Abdullah at its offices.
In addition to being charged with second-degree murder, Abdullah was also charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
During Wednesday’s arraignment, Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg said Abdullah’s attack was unprovoked. Enriquez had been sitting on the Q train looking at his cell phone when Abdullah, standing a few feet away, “fired one shot at the center of Daniel Enriquez’s body.”
Legal Aid Society lawyer Kristin Bruan had asked that Abdullah be given a medical and psychiatric evaulation to which Judge Jonathan Svetkey agreed.
