Gabay was “the most innocent of innocent victims”, the governor said. He was killed earlier this month when gunfire rang out between rival gangs during festivities surrounding the West Indian Day parade in New York City.
Advertisement
Gov. Cuomo, speaking at the funeral of his murdered aide Saturday, urged Washington Democrats to shut down the government until they get a gun control bill that works.
“It’s not enough for New York State to pass a gun law and close the front door when the guns are coming in the back door, when the guns can come up from Virginia or South Carolina for anyone willing to take a vehicle ride”, he said.
In addition to Gabay’s shooting, a man was fatally stabbed and police arrested a suspect in a separate shooting that occurred shortly before Gabay was wounded.
Cuomo says Gabay and his brother heard gunshots and tried to duck behind a auto, but Gabay ended up being hit by a bullet.
He was pronounced dead on September 16 after he was removed from a respirator, notes the report.
The 43-year-old Harvard-educated lawyer served as first deputy general counsel at the Empire State Development Corp.
Gabay, who was 43-years-old, was the son of Jamaican immigrants.
Advertisement
“He never saw the shooter, he never knew what caused the gunshots – it was purely random”, Cuomo told reporters after the service, adding that Gabay had “a smile that lit up the state of New York”. “The spread of gun violence has to stop and it has to stop now”.
