Carey W. Gabay, a lawyer for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration who was shot in the head before the West Indian American Day Parade on Labor Day, is brain-dead, his family announced Tuesday night, the New York Times reports.
Gabay, 43, was caught in a shootout in the Crown Heights neighborhood of New York City’s borough of Brooklyn on Sept. 7. Police believe that gangs were involved in the shootout. He was rushed to the hospital, where he was reported to be in a coma and in critical condition.
“There are difficult decisions we will face in the coming hours and days as our family struggles to process what this means for us,” Gabay’s family said in a statement Wednesday, the Times notes. “We ask that our privacy be respected during this difficult time.”
The family is urging anyone who has information about the shooting, which the family called “a nightmare,” to contact the police.
“Today we are all incredibly saddened by the news from Carey Gabay’s family. I ask that all New Yorkers please join me in keeping both Carey and his family in their thoughts and prayers during this difficult time,” Cuomo said in his own statement.
Gabay, whose parents are Jamaican immigrants, grew up in the north Bronx and celebrated his heritage every year by attending the early-morning J’ouvert festival, the Times notes. As he was walking home with his brother and some friends around 3:40 a.m., some 30 bullets were fired into the crowd. Gabay ducked behind a car but was hit in the top of his head.
The police have not made any arrests in connection with the shooting, although last week a sketch was released of a man they are seeking for questioning. There is also surveillance footage of two suspects with guns running into a building after the shooting.
A $12,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and indictment of the shooter has been announced, the Times notes.
Read more at the New York Times.