The killing of 13-year-old Sanjay Samuel, shot in the head outside a Dunkin’ in Cambria Heights, Queens earlier this week, has ignited a debate in the New York City mayor’s race about public safety and the future of the city’s gang database.
Samuel was fatally shot as he walked to school. His family is demanding police find the killer.
Police release images of suspect in Samuel’s killing
Samuel was shot at about 8:20 a.m. Monday. He was rushed to the hospital and pronounced dead Wednesday.
On Thursday, police released images of a suspect in the shooting.
Police released this image of a suspect they say is wanted for shooting 13-year-old Sanjay Samuel in the head in Queens on Sept. 22, 2025.
NYPD
Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on X, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
Samuel’s killing reignites debate about city’s gang database
Mayor Eric Adams said the shooting was gang related, and lashed out at Democrat frontrunner Zohran Mamdani, who he said wants to make it more difficult for cops to curb gang violence by eliminating the gang database.
“And so I think that all candidates should think loud and clear how policies impact people on the ground. This mother is grieving,” Adams said. “When you have these tragic shootings, it hits at the core of your feeling of safety. The perception hurts you. So every mother, I’m sure, is hurting you right now. About their child, and their child moving around the city.”
Police say the database helps them crack down on gang violence.
“It’s clear that [Mamdani’s] lack of fully understanding the full scope of public safety if he were to become the mayor is just going to impact the quality life of our city,” Adams said.
A spokesperson for Mamdani told CBS News New York the Queens assemblyman is against the database because “it puts an individual on a list on the basis of suspicion rather than fact.”
Republican Curtis Sliwa, who’s generally a law-and-order candidate, pointed out that some gang members have turned their lives around by joining the Guardian Angels subway patrols. He wants those who have left gang life to be removed from the database.
“We need the gang list. But we need to color it when people are no longer involved with gangs. [You’d] be surprised at the number of people who were involved with Savage No-Men, Savage Foes, Black Spades, all the gangs in the Bronx when I first started, now gainfully employed,” Sliwa said.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo talked about Samuel’s death as he offered a five-point plan to combat gun violence. He took a swipe at Mamdani, who doesn’t want to hire additional police. He said he does not support the elimination of the gang database.
“That’s a Mamdani position that again speaks to his lack of experience,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo said keeping the gang database is essential for public safety.
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