An elderly man shot a taxi driver over a $40 fare in the Bronx and then casually walked into a retirement home as the victim lay wounded on the street. The incident occurred near West 169 Street in Highbridge, where 27-year-old Guinea immigrant Alusine Barrie was shot in the stomach by 76-year-old Joseph Meeks, a resident of the senior living facility.
Barrie, who supports his family back home, was shot while still seated in his yellow taxi after an argument over the fare. He managed to open the door and fall out of the car, where photos captured him lying on the ground as first responders attended to him. Despite being in stable condition at Lincoln Hospital, Barrie still required a breathing tube.
Following the shooting, Barrie called his mother for help and even took photos of Meeks standing over him. The altercation began when Meeks allegedly couldn’t pay the $40 fare after being picked up in Harlem. He attempted to use four different credit cards, none of which worked.
Meeks was arrested three and a half hours after the shooting and is facing an attempted murder charge. He has a history of prior arrests, including charges of menacing and criminal possession of a weapon from an incident in April 2024, as well as charges of petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property from June 2024.
Barrie, who has been in the US for nine years, sends money back to his family in Africa and has been working for the same company since 2023. His mother, brother, and sister all reside in New York. The city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission condemned the violence and offered support to Barrie, while also praising the NYPD for quickly apprehending the suspect.
Taxi advocate Fernando Mateo expressed shock at the age of the suspect and called for better crime control measures to prioritize the safety of victims over criminals. He emphasized the need for New Yorkers to come together and protect one another in the face of such senseless violence. The Evolution of Technology in the 21st Century
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