By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
GREENWICH VILLAGE — Police released photos and a video Wednesday of two suspects wanted in connection to a shooting of the son of a New York University vice president in Greenwich Village.
Alex Bongard, 24, son of NYU Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs Debra LaMorte, was shot in the chest Monday in his apartment at 185 Bleecker Street.
"I am saddened and dismayed by what has happened to my son, Alex," LaMorte said in a statement. "There will be many challenges for my son and all of us in the days and weeks ahead, but right now, as his mother, I am only focused on two things: his making a full recovery, and the NYPD catching the gunmen who shot my son."
A New York Post reporter caught LaMorte outside her son's room in intensive care, where she said he was in critical condition.
"He is on the brink," LaMorte told the Post.
A second man, Lucas Hinde, 31, was also shot in the chest during what police said was a drug-related robbery ambush in the apartment that's between Bleecker and MacDougal streets, reports said.
Hinde had recently been released from Arizona state prison for his role in a marijuana drug ring and police found drugs in the apartment, the New York Post reported.
Both men remained in stable condition at Bellevue Hospital, police said.
The two suspects went to the apartment to buy marijuana, police sources told the Post. Once there, they pulled on ski masks and shot Bongard and Hinde in the chest, police told the paper. They also allegedly made off with cash.
Neighbors said it appeared the suspects were let into the building. The lock and buzzer were working Wednesday night.
Charlie Walker, 61, who's lived in the Bleecker Street apartment building for 39 years said he didn't see or hear anything Monday night, but he said since renovation work started in Washington Square Park, drug activity has moved into neighborhood streets.
After the shooting, he said he was "going to be more concerned about people coming into the hallway when you open the door and they follow you in."
NYU released a statement saying it was aware of the incident and confirming that one of the victims was once a continuing education student there. The university added that the Bleecker Street apartment where the shooting took place was not affiliated with NYU.
Anyone with information regarding the shooting and the suspects is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-8477.
