STATEN ISLAND — An ex-con named Richard Richard was arrested Thursday for fatally shooting a man outside a Stapleton auto shop two days earlier, NYPD officials said.
Richard, 25, who served two years behind bars for selling drugs, gunned down Whalen Gurley Johnson, 27, outside 227 Broad St., near Gordon Street, about 10:50 p.m., police said.
Gurley Johnson, whose girlfriend was with him at the time, was pronounced dead at Richmond University Medical Center, police said.
Gurley Johnson's girlfriend was able to identify Richard, and he was taken into custody shortly afterward, police said.
During questioning, Richard damaged some soundproofing materials in the 120th Precinct stationhouse, police noted.
He was formally charged Thursday for murder and using a stolen gun, officials said. He was also charged with property damage for the stationhouse destruction, sources said.
Richard has been arrested 16 times since 2008, police said.
He was convicted of criminal sale of a controlled substance in 2012 and served two years in prison, records show.
He was arrested again on Dec. 10 after pulling a knife on a store clerk during an argument over a sandwich that he just bought but disliked, sources said.
It wasn't immediately clear what sparked the Tuesday shooting.
