Authorities have apprehended the individual responsible for shooting and injuring a security guard at a Manhattan shelter, following a week-long search, officials announced Wednesday.
Shaqueal Parker, aged 31, was arrested on Tuesday at his girlfriend’s residence. He is accused of shooting a 49-year-old security guard on March 30 on Madison Avenue near East 28th Street in the NoMad neighborhood, according to authorities and insider sources.
The incident occurred just steps away from The Prince George, a shelter managed by the nonprofit Breaking Ground, where the wounded guard is employed, officials and sources reported.
The guard, who was not on duty and was out for lunch at the time of the shooting, was transported to Bellevue Hospital. He is currently in stable condition, sources indicated.
A hotel employee from the nearby Latham Hotel recounted stepping outside after hearing two gunshots.
“I saw a man lying on the sidewalk, on his back, with blood around his stomach area,” the hotel worker described. “The quick response from the police and ambulance might have been what saved his life.”
Law enforcement sources said last week that Parker was “restricted” from entering the shelter.
“I heard it’s someone who wanted to get in but [the guard] wouldn’t let him in,” a 35-year-old man who had lived in the shelter for 3 years told The Post. “They are strict here. They must have told him not to let the guy in and he didn’t.”
“That’s f–ked up,” he added. “You gonna [try to] kill a man for doing his job. You are the one who f–ked up, you know what I’m saying?”
Daffeny Barochin, 30, who had lived in the shelter for about a year, said the wounded guard is usually very “respectful,” and that she didn’t understand why someone would target him.
“Where did that excessive anger come from that got him to pull the trigger?” Barochin said. “It’s a gun, he was trying to kill him or he would have just squared up with him.”
“I’ve never seen or heard him arguing with anyone so this is shocking to me. I’m surprised it was him,” she added. “He has a timid demeanor. He is not rowdy at all.”
Parker, who lives at a NYCHA complex on the Upper West Side, was also charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon, police said.
His arraignment was pending Wednesday on charges of attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of a firearm .
His most recent previous arrest was on August 27, 2024 for allegedly flipping over a bench where a 55-year-old man was sitting – knocking him to the ground – at Fifth Avenue and East 28th Street, cops said.
That victim suffered a large cut on his head, authorities said.
The disposition of that arrest was not immediately known.
He was also picked up by police on Nov. 2, 2018 on a warrant out of Dade County, Florida, cops said.
The nature of the Florida case was unclear.
