A cold-blooded killer who gunned down two innocent victims just days apart during a deadly robbery spree in Brooklyn and the Bronx has been arrested following a weeklong manhunt, police said.
Jesus Acosta, 31, was taken into custody without incident in the Bronx early Saturday, according to cops. Criminal charges were pending.
“The NYPD arrested Jesus Acosta this morning,” the NYPD announced on X. “Thank you to our cops, detectives, and New Yorkers for their work on locating him.”
Acosta, who has a lengthy criminal history, is accused of shooting innocent bystander Tayvon Shuler, 33, in the chest as he was shopping at the 149 Grill & Deli on E. 149th St. near Walton Ave. in Mott Haven about 12:15 a.m. Tuesday, cops said.
“I’m happy they caught him,” Sculer’s older sister, Tanasha Neal, told the Daily News Saturday. “I mean, I knew that they were going to get him soon. Because it was just viral, it was just too everywhere.”
Yet news of Acosta’s arrest won’t help the deep loss she’s feeling over he brother’s death. He’s gone either way, she said.
“It doesn’t matter to me at this point,” she said of Acosta’s arrest.
Surveillance video shows the suspect barge into the store, wildly open fire, then grab as much cash as he can from the register before fleeing. Shuler was rushed to Lincoln Hospital, where he died.
“He’s a good kid. He gave his shirt off his back,” the victim’s father, Douglas Shuler, told CBS News. “He’s going to be missed.”
Just two days earlier, according to police, Acosta began his deadly rampage by shooting two workers, one fatally, while trying to rob American Best Wings & Pizza on Rockaway Ave. in Brownsville just after midnight on Sunday.
Medics rushed both victims to Brookdale University Hospital. MD Yousuf, 44, who was struck in the head, could not be saved.
His co-worker at the eatery, age 39, was shot in the leg and is recovering, cops said.
Yousuf, a hardworking Bangladeshi immigrant, sent his wages back to support his large family, including two young daughters, aged 3 and 12, the restaurant’s co-owner told the Daily News.
“This is very sad,” the co-owner said. “He came from a very poor family … Honestly, I don’t know how they will survive afterwards since their only provider is no more.”
Yousuf’s injured co-worker told ABC News from the hospital — where he was recovering with a bullet still lodged in his thigh — that he played dead in order to survive. The gunman chillingly checked to see if he was still alive.
“He touched me,” the co-worker said. “He thinking I’m acting like I’m dying.”
He’s scheduled for surgery in six weeks to remove the bullet.
The FBI offered a $25,000 reward and the United Bodegas of America a $10,000 reward for Acosta’s capture.
Acosta was identified to authorities by his parole officer, who recognized him from surveillance video that circulated among law enforcement and in local news coverage, police said. Acosta was due to complete parole in 2030.
According to police, Acosta has 13 prior arrests, including for robbery in 2010 when he was just 14.
In May 2015 at age 19, he shot a man in the arm on an East Harlem subway platform after they argued on an uptown No. 2 train, cops said. Acosta was arrested for attempted murder, assault, weapon possession and reckless endangerment.
He pleaded guilty to assault and weapon possession, and had just been released on parole this April after serving 10 years in state prison.