NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A Manhattan man who was out on bail after allegedly shooting at three cops in 2021 was arrested early Tuesday in Sunday’s execution-style killing of a man at a Harlem smoke shop—and in another fatal shooting just a day before that one.
Messiah Nantwi, 21, was busted on two charges of murder and a single charge of criminal possession of a weapon.
Police said he was nabbed in Harlem around 12:45 a.m. Tuesday.
Investigators believe he’s the man who gunned down a 36-year-old man in a crowded smoke shop at 304 Lenox Ave. just before 8 p.m. Sunday.
Shocking surveillance video shows the moment the victim is shot in the head at point-blank range as he walks away from an encounter with another man, believed to be Nantwi, inside the shop.
Moments later, the gunman walks over to the victim as he’s lying wounded on the ground and shoots him in the head again, video shows.
The victim died at NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem. He was identified as Brandon Brunson, of Brooklyn.
Nantwi is the prime suspect in another fatal shooting from Saturday in which a 19-year-old man was gunned down in East Harlem.
The victim, identified as Jaylen Duncan, was shot at Madison Avenue and East 132nd Street just before 5 p.m. He was also pronounced dead at NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem.
In March 2021, Nantwi was indicted on three counts of first-degree attempted murder, as well as weapons charges, resisting arrest and other crimes, for allegedly shooting at an NYPD sergeant and two NYPD officers in the South Bronx.
Nantwi, then 18, and another person were stopped by uniformed officers at Elton Avenue and East 153rd Street on the morning of Feb.
21 because they were suspected of making graffiti.
During the arrest, Nantwi allegedly pulled out a .22-caliber pistol and fired three shots at the three cops, who returned 31 shots, striking Nantwi three times, according to the Bronx District Attorney’s Office. The cops were not injured.
Reached for comment Tuesday, the Bronx D.A.'s Office said the judge set a bail of $500,000 in the case, over prosecutors' objections. The bail was later reduced to $300,000, with 10% posted.
As a result, Nantwi had been out on bail since mid-2021, according to the D.A.'s office. The trial in that case was pending, with the next court date scheduled for April 21.
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