A 16-year-old caught with a gun in school has been linked to a fatal shooting in Harlem, police said Thursday.
The teen was charged with murder, assault and gun possession in connection with the slaying of 34-year-old Christopher Jimenez, who was found with a gunshot wound to the chest in his apartment building near W. 126th St. and Broadway on April 17, police said.
Obtained by Daily News
Christopher Jimenez, 34, was killed Thursday after a confrontation with two men in the lobby of a NYCHA building on W. 126th St. near Broadway. (Obtained by Daily News)
Cops initially arrested another resident of the building in the Manhattanville Houses complex, Angel Celpa, 29, six days after Jimenez was shot. Celpa was charged with assault and weapons possession, but not murder.
Now, police believe they have caught the triggerman, cops said.
The teenager was busted with a handgun yesterday when a school safety officer found the gun in his blue backpack, a police source said. The school safety officer had received a tip that the teen was carrying a gun and checked his bag, according to the source.
Police arrested the teenager around 4:20 p.m. at Philip Randolph high school — around the corner from the crime scene.
He is charged with murder, assault and weapons possession, police said.
It is unclear if or how the teenage suspect knew the victim or Celpa. Celpa has one prior arrest for weapons possession in 2020, according to police records.
The teenager’s identity is being withheld because he is a minor.
