Suspect in NYC construction worker shooting allegedly used retired cop’s gun
The man who fatally shot a construction worker in the Bronx this week used a gun he stole from a retired NYPD cop, police sources said.
A 66-year-old man — who wasn’t immediately identified pending charges — allegedly shot Lizbeth Mass, 52, six times in the groin, thigh, shoulder, hip and back while she was on her lunch break at City Island Avenue and City Island Road at about 12:45 p.m. Wednesday, according to cops and police sources.
He allegedly used a gun stolen from a housing cop who retired in 1988, police sources said.
He had allegedly been working in the retiree’s yard as a handyman earlier that morning.
The retired cop told investigators he saw the story on the news, recognized the weapon — a .44-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver — and realized his own was missing, according to police sources.
The weapon had never been fired prior to Wednesday’s shooting, the sources said.
He called 911 several hours after the incident to report his missing revolver, the sources said.
His two other weapons were confiscated for safekeeping and his pistol license was removed, according to the sources.
The suspect brought Mass food in a bag shortly before the shooting, then rode off on a bike, police sources said.
As she sat down on the sidewalk, propping her back against a retaining wall, he returned, got off his bike and repeatedly blasted her, according to the sources.
Then he allegedly tried to pedal away — when the victim’s boyfriend, who was sitting in his car nearby, sped toward him and knocked him off his bike.
An on-duty, undercover IRS agent ran to the scene and handcuffed the suspect, the sources said.
Mass died at Jacobi Medical Center, and the alleged shooter was also hospitalized in stable condition. Charges are pending against him.
Mass moved into a building in Bushwick last spring, after her mother died of COVID-19, neighbors said Thursday morning.
One 47-year-old neighbor, who identified himself as Charles M., said he had just seen Mass Wednesday morning.
“She was a very hands-on person,” he said, adding that she used to shovel snow. “She wasn’t girly-girly, she would get down and dirty — that also came with her job. I would say, ‘You need help?’ And she would say, ‘No, I’m used to this, this is what I do at City Island.’”
“You would see her in her uniform, her work clothes,” he said. “She seemed very prideful. She has a little dog they used to walk every day.”
He said he first learned about Mass’ boyfriend ramming his car into the suspect through media reports.
“You had to stop him somehow,” he said. “He was getting away on a bicycle — what are you, an idiot?”
The boyfriend was being questioned by investigators, police said. It was unclear late Thursday morning whether he would face charges.
