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Man killed in NJ shootout was suspect in robbery of Brooklyn pastor, report says
By
Samantha Max
and
Amanda Rozon
Published Jan 25, 2024
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Sheila Paras/Getty Images
By
Samantha Max
and
Amanda Rozon
Published Jan 25, 2024
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Federal law enforcement officers executing an arrest warrant killed a man during a shootout in New Jersey on Wednesday, according to the state attorney general’s office.
The man was not immediately identified, but NBC New York reported he was the third suspect in a 2022 armed robbery of Bishop Lamor Whitehead, a prominent Brooklyn pastor with ties to New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
Two other men have pleaded guilty to federal charges that they stole more than $1 million in jewelry from Whitehead and his wife while the pastor delivered a livestreamed sermon.
The New Jersey AG’s office, which is investigating the shooting, has not publicly confirmed the man’s identity. The office said in a statement that agents from the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives exchanged gunfire with the man while executing an arrest warrant at a motel in Monmouth Junction on Wednesday afternoon.
The AG’s office said the man died from his injuries and no officers were hit. The office also said law enforcement found two guns near him.
Whitehead, also known as the "Bling Bishop, " was preaching at his church in Canarsie, Brooklyn, in July 2022 when three masked men dressed in black entered with guns drawn, according to federal prosecutors.
As parishioners watched both in person and on a livestream, Whitehead got on the ground and the men proceeded to take expensive jewelry and religious items, including a $125,000 wedding ring and $20,000 emerald cross, an itemized list provided to Gothamist after the robbery showed.
The incident made headlines and brought attention to a pastor already familiar with the limelight for his friendship with the mayor and his pledges to help negotiate the surrender of a man who had shot a stranger on the Q train in May 2022.
But Whitehead has also faced scrutiny for wearing lavish jewelry and clothes. Several months after the robbery, federal prosecutors in Manhattan indicted him on charges that he swindled $90,000 from a parishioner’s retirement savings.
Whitehead often says his critics have transformed him from a victim into a villain. He repeated that refrain in an Instagram Live video after the shooting, urging anyone who had ever lied about him to repent.
“God is going to protect me and my family,” he said.
Whitehead has called the men who robbed him “scumbags” and told Gothamist in November he was “still praying” about whether to forgive them, given the hurt they caused.
But after Wednesday’s shooting by law enforcement, Whitehead offered condolences to the dead man’s family and called the incident “senseless.” He said on Instagram that he wished the man would have just turned himself in.
“I truly forgive this young man,” Whitehead said. “I’m human, so I was angry. Trauma’s still gonna hit.”
Tagged
attorney general
shooting
public safety
robbery
brooklyn
new jersey
Samantha Max
Samantha reports on whether New Yorkers feel safe and whether the institutions that are supposed to protect them are working. Before coming to WNYC/Gothamist, she spent three years covering the criminal justice system in Tennessee for Nashville Public Radio. Her reporting on Nashville's police department received multiple awards, including the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize. Samantha was also part of the inaugural class of Report for America, a service journalism program that sends up-and-coming reporters to local newsrooms across the country. She is a Northwestern University grad, a Baltimore native and fluent in Spanish. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal: samanthamaxwnyc.93.
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Amanda Rozon
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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