A 25-year-old man was taken into custody without incident, and his identity was not revealed by police, Assistant Police Chief Joseph Kenny said at a news conference.
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A 9 mm handgun with an extended magazine and a scooter were recovered.
"We don't know the motive. It seems his acts were random," Kenny said. "Video shows that he's not targeting anybody - he's not following anybody as he's driving on his scooter; he's randomly shooting people."
The shootings began around 11:10 a.m. when someone on a scooter shot a 21-year-old man in the shoulder in Brooklyn. He was brought to a hospital and is expected to survive, police said.
Seventeen minutes later, an 87-year-old man was shot multiple times in the Richmond Hill area of Queens. He later died at a hospital.
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Shortly after in Queens, witnesses reported a man on a scooter firing randomly into a group of people; although, nobody was hurt.
At 11:35 a.m. at Hillside Avenue and 126th Street, a 44-year-old man was shot in the face. He is now in critical condition.
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Just two minutes later at Jamaica Avenue and 134th Street, a 63-year-old man was also hit by gunfire.
"Armed with an image of the suspect as officers fanned out across Queens," NYPD Acting Police Commissioner Edward Caban called for a critical message. An image of the suspect was sent to every NYPD officer on the street. It helped officers from 103rd and 113th Precincts recognize and arrest the suspect in Queens just after 1 p.m.
"The 9mm pistol had an extended magazine. Given the violence this individual was willing to carry out, I want to express my gratitude to the men and women in the NYPD," Caban said.
Officers say the suspect has only one prior arrest for a traffic violation.