OLD FORGE, Pa. — A man wanted for a deadly shooting at a gentlemen's club in Lackawanna County is dead after exchanging gunfire with officers.
According to state police, Shamar Leggette was wanted for the deadly shooting of Khayree Abdurruzzaq, 34, of Plymouth, outside "Club VIP" near the Diamond Club in Old Forge in December.
Investigators said Leggette was found in a motel in South Brunswick, New Jersey, on Wednesday.
According to troopers, Leggette fired at U.S. Marshals who were trying to arrest him. The marshals returned fire, and Leggette was killed.
Samantha Martinez, who was with Leggette at the motel, admitted to driving Leggette to the Diamond Club in December and said that Leggette was responsible for the shooting death of Abrurruzzaq.
Authorities say Leggette was a member of the Crips street gang and had an extensive criminal history. Leggette was wanted in Providence, Rhode Island, for armed robbery and assault and was wanted by the ATF, U.S. Marshals, and NYPD for armed robberies.
New York State Parole also issued an active warrant for violating his conditions of parole for an attempted murder charge.
Martinez was taken into custody and is currently in custody in Middlesex County, New Jersey, facing charges unrelated to this incident.
The deadly shooting was the second one to happen outside of the two businesses in the last year.
On New Year's Day, 2023, police say Jordan Allen of Wilkes-Barre fired shots in the parking lot as his ex-girlfriend was walking to a car. The shooting victim was in another vehicle when hit by the gunfire.
Allen was later arrested and charged with aggravated assault.
WABC-TV in New York reports that Leggette was also wanted for his connection with the robbery of Bishop Lamor Whitehead.
Bishop Whitehead was robbed at gunpoint in the middle of a live-streamed church service in Brooklyn on July 24, 2022. He said three men waving guns stole hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of jewelry from him and his wife.
At the time, two suspects were quickly arrested and charged federally. Police released an image of the third suspect, Leggette, soon after, but he had remained at large for nearly a year and a half before he was fatally shot on Wednesday.
Leggette served two sentences in state prison for robbery, attempted murder, and weapons possession and was released from Fishkill Correctional Facility six months before Bishop Whitehead was robbed, according to WABC's report.