Carey Gabay, an attorney for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration who was shot in the head last week as he ducked for cover during a gang shootout at an early-morning West Indian American Day Parade celebration, died Wednesday evening.
Gabay, 43, had been in critical condition since being hit by a stray bullet in the Sept. 7 shooting in Brooklyn, N.Y. According to a family friend who spoke with the New York Times, Gabay was pronounced brain-dead Tuesday and the family decided to remove him from life support Wednesday evening.
"We ask that our privacy be respected during this difficult time," Gabay's family said in a statement.
The son of Jamaican immigrants, Gabay grew up in a tough housing project in the Bronx, N.Y., and graduated from Harvard Law. Gabay was proud of his Jamaican heritage. According to the Times, he rarely missed a J'ouvert festival, a large street party before the parade that celebrates Caribbean culture through music, food and dance. Gabay and his wife, Trenelle, were married in 2012.
"Many have come to know Carey through professional life, but he is also a kindhearted and selfless soul who has touched the spirit of everyone he's met," the family wrote in a statement viewed by the Times.
Police have made no arrests in the shooting but are looking to speak with a person of interest. According to the Times, police officials released surveillance video of two suspects, armed with guns, running into a building shortly after the shooting. They also released a sketch of a man being sought in connection with the shooting. Police are offering a $12,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and indictment of the gunman, the Times reports.
Read more at the New York Times.