A man out on bail for drug and weapons charges was arrested for gunning down a 27-year-old Uber driver outside a Bronx apartment building, cops announced Thursday.
Frederick Freeman, 36, was cuffed Wednesday and charged with second-degree murder for fatally shooting fatally shooting Muhamadou Gumaneh, police said.
Freeman — who has been arrested six times since 2008 — posted a $10,000 bail to secure his release following his Nov. 27, 2023 arrest after police caught him with drugs and a loaded firearm in Manhattan, court records show.
He is due back in Manhattan Supreme Criminal Court on Oct. 16 for charges related to last year’s arrest, records show.
Freeman wore dark clothing and a mask on Sheridan Ave. near Marcy Place when he opened fire around 1:10 a.m. on Aug 15, striking Gumaneh in the chest, arm and back, cops said.
Paramedics rushed Gumaneh to Lincoln Hospital but he could not be saved, police said.
Gumaneh’s family told the Daily News they believe their slain loved one was an innocent bystander who got caught in the gunman’s sights.
“He was a praying man, a devout Muslim,” the victim’s brother, Saibou Gumaneh, told the News following his slaying earlier this month. “He always made sure he got time for his prayers. He was definitely not the intended target. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.“
Gumaneh worked as an Uber driver and was planning to get married when Freeman allegedly gunned him down, according to his brother.
“My brother was a good person,” Saibou Gumaneh said. “Definitely a warm hearted person. He worked a lot of hustles. But he was mostly a hardworking Uber driver.”
In the hours following the fatal shooting, Neighbors gathered around a bloodstain that marked the site where Gumaneh was hit. One neighbor said she captured cell phone video of first responders trying to save the victim.
“I’ve seen him. I know him,” one of the neighbors said, shaking her head. “My grandson’s friend. … Oh my God. Oh my God.”
The neighbor, 76, said her grandson and the victim had gone through grade school together.
“I don’t see him for a couple of weeks because sometimes I don’t come down,” she said. “Oh my God.”
The woman said local teens often gathered on the street in the evening, but she suspected they wouldn’t be back for a few days. She has lived in the neighborhood for decades and said the area used to be safer.
“There are a lot of shootings,” she said.
A building resident said she didn’t hear the gunshots but heard the call placed for help.
“I heard. They say, ‘Call 911,’” she said.
