PICTURED: Suspect, 16, who 'shot and injured Marine' in Times Square is led to court to face attempted murder charge after turning himself in to cops while accompanied by his mother
The teen who allegedly shot and injured a Marine in Times Square is seen being led led to court Wednesday evening to face an attempted murder charge after turning himself in to cops.
On Wednesday, Avon Darden, 16, accompanied by his mother, handed himself over to police at the Midtown South Precinct station house.
Samuel Poulin, 21, was hit in the back by a ricocheting bullet as he walked with his family near the Marriott Hotel on W. 45th St. around 5:.15pm on June 27. The young Marine was hospitalized after the shooting but was not seriously injured.
Because of his age, Darden was charged as a minor with attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon, cops said in a news release.
Avon Darden, 16, was led out in front of media to court Wednesday evening after he was charged with attempted murder in connection to the shooting of 21-year-old Marine Samuel Poulin in Times Square on June 27
Darden turned himself into police earlier on Wednesday accompanied by his mother, 10 days after the shooting
Darden is being charged as a minor due to his age
'I don't want to say anything about my son,' the teen's mom, who declined to give her name, told the New York Daily News.
The teen was 'perp walked' as he was led out of the precinct on his way to court on Wednesday night and was seen wearing an oversized black hoodie covering his head, a blue surgical mask and baggy blue pants.
When asked by a reporter for the New York Post if he had a message for Poulin's family, he said: 'Yeah I got a message for the family… [inaudible].'
He was then driven to court by detectives.
Darden is seen inside Manhattan Supreme Court on attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon charges Wednesday evening
Darden reportedly has been arrested for three felonies
Avon Darden, 16, handed himself over to cops at the Midtown South Precinct station house on Wednesday a whopping ten days after the shooting. He is pictured in surveillance footage while cops searched for him
Darden is allegedly pictured with the gun during the shooting on June 27
Samuel Poulin, 21, was hit in the back by a ricocheting bullet as he walked with his family near the Marriott Hotel on W. 45th St. around 5:15 p.m. on June 27
The young soldier recently graduated from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, with a commission in the US. Marine Corps
Darden reportedly has been arrested for three felonies, including one for a gun possession charge, before he turned himself over on Wednesday.
Cops told the New York Post that the shooting was prompted after rival breakdancers argued the night before when Darden had allegedly walked in front of a performer.
Darden allegedly returned the next day and argued with the other performer for a second time before he allegedly whipped out the gun and opened fire, the New York Post reported.
After Darden allegedly started shooting, a bullet ricocheted off the ground and hit Poulin.
The young soldier recently graduated from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, with a commission in the US. Marine Corps.
Times Square, one of the world's most visited tourist attractions, sees an estimated 50 million visitors annually and about 330,000 people pass through it daily, many of whom are tourists like Poulin.
Scared bystanders were sent scurrying as the shots went off last Sunday.
NYPD data shows that there were 59 shooting victims from June 28, the day after the Times Square incident, to July 4. There were 64 shooting victims for the same week in 2020, marking a 7.8% decrease year-over-year.
In the last 28 days, there have been 201 shooting victims compared to 261 for the same period last year – marking a 23% decrease year-over-year.
Times Square, one of the world's most visited tourist attractions, sees an estimated 50 million visitors annually
Scared bystanders were sent scurrying as the shots went off last Sunday
Police are pictured working the scene where an innocent bystander, 21, was struck by a ricocheted bullet outside the Marriott Hotel
NYPD data shows that there were 59 shooting victims from June 28, the day after the Times Square incident, to July 4
There were 64 shooting victims for the same week in 2020, marking a 7.8% decrease year-over-year
The number of shooting victims in the Big Apple remains up in 2021 compared to 2020, with a total of 886 shooting victims this year compared to 670 last year
The number of murders recorded for the week of June 28 to July 4 also fell 54.5% when compared to last year
The numbers appear to indicate that the NYPD and officials have started to get a grip on the incredible crime rates
The number of shooting victims in the Big Apple remains up in 2021 compared to 2020, with a total of 886 shooting victims this year compared to 670 last year.
The number of shooting incidents for the week of June 28 to July 4 also fell 9.6% year-over-year, with 52 reported in 2020 and just 47 reported in 2021.
The number of shooting incidents are down 16.2% for the 28-day recording period, with 165 shooting incidents recorded in 2021 and 197 recorded in 2020.
However, like the number of shooting victims, the number of shooting incidents for the year are still alarmingly high.
There have been 765 shooting incidents total for 2021 as recorded by July 4, with just 555 shooting incidents recorded by the same date in 2020 – for an increase of 37.8%.
The number of murders recorded for the week of June 28 to July 4 also fell 54.5% when compared to last year. There were 5 murders recorded for the week in 2021 compared to 11 in 2020.
The number of murders recorded for the 28-day recording period also fell 15.8% from 38 murders in 2020 to 32 in 2021.
The number of murders for the year were still up 8.5% compared to 2020 with 217 murders recorded by July 4 of this year and 200 recorded by July 4 of last year.
However, those numbers too have been declining in recent months since crime spiked in early spring.
Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, was in Manhattan on Tuesday to sign into law a $139 million plan to combat gun crime in the state. Almost half of the money will go to violence prevention initiatives and finding jobs and training for young people deemed most at risk
There were 173 total murders this year as of May 30, with just 147 by the same date in 2020 – marking a 17.7% increase year-over-year. That percentage increase has fallen nearly 10 percentage points by July 4.
By May 9, NYPD data showed there were a total of 146 murders in New York City in 2021 compared to 115 by the same date in 2020, then a 27% increase – nearly 20 percentage points higher than where they currently stand.
The numbers appear to indicate that the NYPD and officials have started to get a grip on the incredible crime rates.
The NYPD provides data for seven major crime categories, including: murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny and grand larceny auto.
Across those categories, there were 44,129 crimes committed by July 4 of this year compared to 44,426 by the same date last year – a sign that crime across all categories has actually decreased by about 1% year-over-year.
Eric Adams, who is on track to be elected mayor of New York City in November, on Wednesday morning said that Andrew Cuomo's gun violence reduction plan should have been ushered in earlier
Adams mingles with supporters during his election night party, late on June 22
Still, New York politicians are frantically working to keep those numbers from rising once again and even-out the crime numbers.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared the state-wide crime wave a 'disaster emergency' on Tuesday while he announced a seven-tiered plan to allocate $138.7 million for gun violence intervention and programs.
'If you can beat COVID, you can beat gun violence,' Cuomo said. 'We're in a new epidemic, and it's gun violence, and it's a matter of life and death also.'
Cuomo said at the news conference that the order will let state officials give money and resources to areas hit hardest by the gun violence epidemic.
He also appeared to accuse gun manufacturers as one of the main reasons behind the crime spike.
Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams, who is likely to become the next mayor of New York City after winning the Democratic primary, rebuked Cuomo for the announcement, asking on CBS This Morning: 'What took so long?'
Adams, a 60-year-old former NYPD police captain, won the primary election largely for his platform of being tough on crime - and has even secured praise from Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
When asked for his response to Cuomo's gun violence plan, Adams replied: '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.'
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