'BISHOP ROBBER' SLAIN
'Confrontation' with US marshals
A career criminal suspected of robbing flashy Brooklyn bishop Lamor Whitehead during a livestreamed service in 2022 was shot dead by US marshals in New Jersey Wednesday, law-enforcement sources told The Post.
Shamar Leggette — third on the list of New York’s most wanted fugitives — was killed during a confrontation with marshals attempting to arrest him for the armed robbery, the sources said.
Leggette, 41, fired at officers as he exited the MHO Inn & Suites in Monmouth Junction, where they were waiting to take him into custody, NBC New York reported.
A woman he was with in the hotel surrendered to authorities before Leggette came out shooting, according to NBC-4.
Leggette, who served two stints in state prison, was identified as a suspect in the brazen church robbery last year after his two accomplices were arrested.
The three masked bandits stormed the Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries in Canarsie on July 24, 2022, in the middle of Whitehead’s live-streamed sermon.
Footage of the heist shows the infamous pastor hit the floor as the armed men run in. They target Whitehead and his wife — making off with the bishop’s $75,000 Rolex watch, a $75,000 Cavalier watch and a $25,000 ruby and diamond ring, among other valuables.
The bishop, dressed in a Gucci suit, went on Instagram Live Wednesday night to discuss the death of the robber.
He said Leggette “was the guy that put the gun in my wife’s face and put the gun in my 8-month-old daughter’s face” during the robbery in which his wife was holding their baby daughter.
“So this is the guy that was at large and he came and put the gun to my head and ripped my clergy collar off and ripped my chains off and he was just brutal,” Whitehead said, announcing that Leggette had been killed by marshals.
“My condolences really go out to his family,” Whitehead continued. “This is a sad situation where once again, we as African-American people — it’s a cycle of destruction . . . It’s so senseless.”
The bishop — facing extortion and wire-fraud charges himself — said he has forgiven the three men who robbed him and would love to meet Leggette’s family to let them know he has no animosity toward them, before offering to conduct the funeral service.
“I forgive him and I do want to extend my services to the family,” Whitehead said. “I would eulogize him, I will preach the service, whatever I can do in a pastor’s capacity, I will do it, free of charge.”
Leggette was released on parole from state prison six months before the high-profile robbery.
He had served time for robbery, attempted murder and weapons possession, records show. He previously served time, from August 2003 to July 2010, for first-degree robbery, according to records.
That conviction stemmed from the 2002 armed mugging of thenNBA Nets point guard Chris Childs outside a Manhattan restaurant owned by Sean “P. Diddy” Combs.
Leggette, age 20 at the time of the crime, pointed a gun at Childs as other robbers took a $20,000 watch, $800 in cash and a cellphone.
One accomplice ordered Leggette to pull the trigger before the hoopster pleaded for him to stop and handed the bandits his $3,500 diamond ring.
Leggette was also wanted for attempted murder and robbery in connection to a Queens mugging in which he took $7,000 cash from a woman on her way to the bank and then fired a gun at a bystander but missed, according to state records.
He was also wanted in Rhode Island for shooting and robbing a man of $50,000 in jewelry in Providence last August, ABC6 Rhode Island News reported.
Leggette’s accomplices in the Brooklyn church robbery have pleaded guilty to the crime.