The suspect accused of attempted murder after allegedly shooting two diners at New York's famed Peter Luger steakhouse was on the run from North Carolina cops at the time of the shootings.
Akries Sommerville, 24, allegedly opened fire at the Brooklyn restaurant on Thursday while being sought by police in Littleton, North Carolina, on charges of kidnapping and robbery with a weapon.
Littleton Police Chief Phillip Trivette told DailyMail.com: 'He doesn't need to be on the street. He's dangerous. He's going to kill someone.'
Sommerville has been charged with two counts of attempted murder.
Cops had earlier said that Sommerville 'was considered armed and very dangerous', with the suspected gunman said to be well-known to cops in Littleton.
Trivette claimed to DailyMail.com that Somerville has a 'habit' of committing crimes in North Carolina, then fleeing to New York City, where he has family.
Sommerville was arrested a few blocks away from the steakhouse on Bedford Avenue and S. 10 Street and was in the hospital Friday morning for an 'unknown reason,' according to the NYPD, which delayed the formal charges.
He is said to have flown into a drunken rage during a family dinner during an argument about women, and allegedly tried to open fire on his cousin and two pals after they escorted him out of the restaurant.
A gun believed to have been used in Thursday's shooting is pictured under trash bags outside Peter Luger steakhouse in Brooklyn
A medical glove and spoon sits on the ground outside the Williamsburg restaurant on Thursday night, in the wake of the shooting which injured two
NYPD detectives investigate the shooting, which saw two innocent diners shot after a drunk customer was allegedly ejected by his friends and cousins following an argument about women
Part of the sidewalk outside Peter Luger was taped off on Friday as detectives investigated the shooting
A group of bemused diners could be seen inside the famed steakhouse apparently continuing their meal as the investigation progressed around them
Amel missed them, it is alleged, but struck two other diners eating nearby. One victim, aged 30, was shot close to his spine, and remains in hospital. The other victim, a 57 year-old man, was shot in the gut and has since been released from hospital.
In addition to the attempted murder charges, he was also charged with two counts of criminal use of a firearm and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
In relation to his North Carolina warrants, Akries Somerville along with his younger brother Armel are accused of stealing an undisclosed amount of money and valuables from a man who was tied up, beaten up and then had a gun held to his head at his home in Littleton, North Carolina, in February.
'If either suspect is seen we urge caution and recommend calling 911 immediately as both are to be considered armed and very dangerous,' the Littleton Police Department had warned earlier in April.
Sommerville has a number of outstanding warrants in Littleton for violent crimes, including kidnapping and robbery with a deadly weapon.
Earlier in April, the Northampton County Sheriff’s Department announced that his brother Armel, 19, was arrested on charges of first-degree murder.
Officials in North Carolina say they are planning to work with their New York City counterparts in ensuring Sommerville is brought to justice.
This is the scene the morning after a shooter opened firing outside of Brooklyn's popular Peter Luger Steakhouse, hitting two innocent diners in the cross fire
The scene outside Peter Luger Steakhouse in Brooklyn is a lot quieter Friday morning following Thursday night's shooting created a chaotic scene
Police tape is pictured outside the famed Peter Luger Steakhouse in Brooklyn
On Thursday night, the gunshots sent diners scrambling.
Travis, a diner from Arizona, told The New York Daily News that when shots rang out, 'People hit the ground and were crawling on top of one another.' Thursday's shooting saw two innocent bystanders injured, when a family feud spilled over at the Williamsburg restaurant, which opened in 1887.
The gunfire broke out at about 9:45pm - before the rowing family members had even eaten their food, The New York Post reported.
Two diners at a table of 11 got into a heated argument, and one of them, later identified as Sommerville, allegedly pulled a gun and started firing.
Instead of hitting his target, two men eating outside were hit - a 30-year-old struck in the shoulder and a 57-year-old hit in the stomach.
Both men were taken to Bellevue Hospital, where they were expected to survive, the paper reported.
With servers and customers ducking for cover, someone inside the steakhouse called 911, and police officers monitoring a nearby anti-police demonstration responded in seconds.
The gunman was arrested with the help of his cousin, who identified him.
The gun was recovered from a garbage can around the block, on South 10th Street, police said.
Police are seen outside the restaurant following the shooting in Brooklyn on Thursday
Thursday's shooting outside the upscale Brooklyn restaurant comes amid a surge in gun violence in New York City following the bloodiest week so far this year, with 50 people shot across the city.
That is a 257 per cent spike from the same time last year, when the pandemic forced New Yorkers into their homes.
Last weekend, 31 people were wounded and six were killed in 28 shootings.
Earlier this month, a concerned Brooklyn mother called Nicole confronted the mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio, during a radio phone-in about shootings, and asked him: 'What's being done?'
The mayor blamed COVID-19 for the crime spike, saying: 'I think it comes back to this horrible combination of things we saw, you know, people didn't have jobs, almost a million people lost their jobs, schools were closed, houses of worship were closed. Things really were falling apart.'
De Blasio shifted to the focus to the city's reopening measures, which he says will cut crime as people return to work.
He also cited his 'community based solutions to gun violence' and two anti-gun crime initiatives, called Cure Violence Movement and Crisis Management System.
New York City has seen 257 per cent spike in gun violence from the same time last year
CURE's website claims it 'leverages young men of color' to act as 'credible messengers of an anti-violence message' in areas hit hard by gun crime.
Crisis Management System deploys mediators to try and cool down brewing conflicts before they spill into violence, and connect 'high risk individuals' to services aimed at stopping them from offending.
De Blasio oversaw in June a $1 billion reduction in New York Police Department's $6 billion budget, at the height of the 'defund the police' protests.
The deal involved moving school safety agents, who are unarmed but wear police uniforms, into the Department of Education; canceling a July class of roughly 1,100 police recruits; and shifting certain homeless outreach operations away from police control.
Critics say it has made the city less safe.
De Blasio has been met with widespread disdain by New York's officers, and will complete his second and final term as mayor in office in November.
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