Statue of Virgin Mary vandalized outside Qns. school
Police have arrested a 21-year-old man they say fatally shot a 35-year-old gang rival in his Brooklyn building in February, officials said Friday.
Nysaiah Luster was nabbed in the gun death of James Suggs in a building at the Farragut Houses, a NYCHA project between the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Brooklyn Navy Yard, said police.
Suggs, who lived in another building at the NYCHA complex, was found dead after being shot in the face in the first floor hallway of 191 Sands St. at about 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 24.
Suggs was a member of the Thirst Three, a street crew that operated in the Farragut Houses, officials said. Luster was affiliated with the Only The Gut, a gang which is also known as the Gwop Up crew.
Police believe the killing resulted from a clash between Thirst Three and Only The Gut.
Luster was arrested Thursday and charged with murder, criminally negligent homicide, assault, menacing and reckless endangerment and ordered held without bail following arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court, officials said.
A statue of the Virgin Mary was spray-painted with the word “IDOL” Friday outside Cathedral Prep School and Seminary in Queens.
Staff of the private high school in Elmhurst discovered the vandalism when they showed up for work Friday morning.
“Today, Cathedral Prep endured an act of hatred,” said Father James Kuroly, Cathedral Prep’s rector and president.
“We were victims of vandalism against a beloved statue that is dear to generations of Cathedral students.”
Surveillance video shows the vandalism occurred at 3:09 a.m.
The vandal, who appears to be a white man, ran to the statue, scrawled his message in spray paint, and strolled away from the scene.
The statue was cleaned and restored by Friday afternoon. The NYPD was investigating the damage as a possible hate crime, the Diocese of Brooklyn reported.
Members of the Cathedral Prep community took to social media to express their anguish over the incident.