Vigil held in Richmond Hill for victim of deadly scooter shooting

ByEyewitness News WABC logo
Wednesday, July 12, 2023
Vigil held in Queens for victim of deadly scooter shooting
People gathered at a vigil on the street corner in Richmond Hill where 86-year-old Hamoo Saeidi was shot dead by a man on a scooter, who was apparently choosing his victims at random.

RICHMOND HILL, Queens (WABC) -- There was a call Tuesday night for more to be done about gun violence, in the wake of last weekend's shooting spree in Queens and Brooklyn that left a man dead and three people injured.

People gathered at a vigil on the street corner in Richmond Hill where 86-year-old Hamoo Saeidi was shot dead by a man on a scooter, who was apparently choosing his victims at random.

It came one day after at least 100 people attended Saeidi's funeral.

The 86-year-old great-grandfather was walking to a mosque at the time of the shooting.

The vigil was organized by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, who is calling on Congress to get serious about gun control.

Police say the 25-year-old man charged in the deadly shooting spree, Thomas Abreu, told them he believed Russians and Chinese people were after him.

"The Russians are after me, the Chinese are after me, the Italians are after me, Africa is after me," he told detectives.

"You are all wearing earpieces," he complained to them

Abreu admitted he rode around Brooklyn and Queens armed a 9mm weapon, but said it wasn't his.

"I was jumped before and someone dropped a bag and when I looked there was a gun and I took it and I kept it since," he claimed.

He was arraigned Monday via closed circuit TV from his bed at a Queens hospital, where he was held without bail.

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