The 26-year-old NYPD officer shot in a botched Brooklyn robbery over the weekend has died, a day after the suspect in the shooting was arrested.
Adeed Fayaz, a father of two, died Tuesday evening, hours after NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell had announced the arrest of 38-year-old Randy Jones. Jones was handcuffed by an NYPD detective assigned to the US Marshals Regional Task Force, officials said -- and it was Fayaz's own cuffs that brought him into police custody, they added.
"We wanted him to know what he did to that officer and that officer's cuffs were on him," NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said. "I think it sends a powerful message."
Fayaz was taken off life support earlier in the day, and was transferred to the morgue later Tuesday evening.
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Jones, of New York City, was arrested at a Rockland County Days Inn Monday evening, police said, after fleeing there with his girlfriend and five young children following Saturday night's shooting. Essig said Jones was extradited to Brooklyn Monday night, and was charged with murder and attempted robbery. He asked for a lawyer once he was apprehended, investigators said.
According to Essig, the officer had arranged to buy a Honda Pilot in Brooklyn for $24,000 on Facebook Marketplace. He initially planned to go to the sale point with his brother-in-law Friday night but that got pushed to Saturday. They rode together in the brother-in-law's vehicle to Ruby Street by McDonald's.
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The pair were met by a man in a black jacket with a beard and mustache who walked them to a driveway and jokingly asked if either was carrying a gun, Essig said. They both said no, at which point Essig said Jones put Fayaz in a headlock, demanded the $24,000 and pointed the weapon at the brother-in-law when Fayaz said he didn't have it.
Fayaz managed to untangle himself from the headlock, Essig said, and the gun went off. Jones allegedly kept firing at the brothers as he ran away. The brother-in-law grabbed Fayaz's weapon from its holster and fired at least six times. Jones got into an SUV and drove off, Essig said. Fayaz had been wounded in the chaos.
Dashcam video from the brother-in-law's SUV helped investigators identify the getaway SUV and track the driver. Around 8:10 p.m. Saturday, after the shooting, the black vehicle pulled into a Department of Sanitation lot on Park Avenue and the same man got out, Essig said. He was later seen getting into another vehicle with a woman and five children. That was the vehicle investigators tracked to the Days Inn in Nanuet, where Jones was arrested.
The girlfriend was questioned but is not expected to be charged in the case. The five children in the room, who range in age from 6 months to 11 years, were released to her. Charges are pending against Jones, who is the target of an ongoing search warrant, Essig said.
No other details were provided.
Investigators are also looking into whether Saturday's case may be part of a pattern, if Jones was responsible for other similar robberies.
"There are a few other social media, Facebook Marketplace robberies. One that happened just recently, I believe early January, right down the block," Essig said. "There’s also some in southeast Queens that we are looking at to see if there are any connections to Mr. Jones."
Mayor Eric Adams said Fayaz was a five-year veteran assigned to patrol.
"Too many illegal guns are in the hands of bad people and doing bad things," the mayor said. "I spoke with the officer's wife, saw his beautiful children. We're all lifting his family up in prayer. We will catch the person responsible for this."
