ELM PARK — A Staten Island man fired a gun into a crowd of people Friday, riddling two men with bullets — then claimed he only did it to scare them away from his home, prosecutors said.
Margus Tart, 20, opened fire just after 2 p.m. Friday on a group of people standing in front of 97 Ann Street, sending five bullets into a 29-year-old and 26-year-old man, police and prosecutors said.
Police said the 29-year-old victim was in critical condition at Richmond University Medical Center. The 26-year-old was in stable condition at the hospital, police said.
Tart, who was arrested Monday, tried to convince investigators that he only fired the shots into the crowd to try to get them away from his Eaton Place home, even though the crime scene is almost a mile away from his home, according to court papers.
"I shot at them to scare them away from my house, the gun was a black .380 caliber," Tart told police, according to court records.
One victim was hit once in each arm and the chest, and the other was shot once in the back, court papers read. The victims' identities were not released.
Tart was arraigned Monday at Staten Island Criminal Court Tuesday on charges of attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon and was
ordered held on $25,000 bail. He is due back in court on Aug. 29, according to court records.
