Police believe alleged gang leader posted a chilling Facebook update after beginning bloody standoff
A law enforcement source told Business Insider the New York City Police Department believes this Facebook page belongs to Garland Tyree, who has been identified as the suspect. According to The New York Times, the standoff began at about 6 a.m. on Friday. At 6:19 a.m., a chilling note was posted on the Facebook page.
"Today I die," the note said.
On Friday afternoon, an NYPD spokesperson told Business Insider the standoff suspect was "dead."
According to the local Staten Island Advance newspaper, sources have described Tyree "as the leader of the Bloods on the East Coast." Police have said he barricaded himself in his home and set it on fire when marshals attempted to arrest him on a probation violation warrant Friday morning. The Advance also reported Tyree has a lengthy criminal record and allegedly shot a firefighter who responded to the blaze in his home.
The Facebook page police believe belonged to the suspect is listed as belonging to a man named "Garland Tyree." It features multiple photos of a man in what appears to be a prison uniform. Photos on the page show the man wearing the red colors associated with the Bloods and some feature red bandana imagery that is one of the gang's main symbols. One of these pictures is a birthday invite for Tyree that describes him as "a real G," which is slang for gang member. Another picture on the page shows piles of money. Other photos posted on the Facebook show news articles about gang crimes on Staten Island and one shows a draft of a novel raging about "a rat."
View some photos from the Facebook page below.
