Suspected robber of Brooklyn’s ‘Bling Bishop’ fatally shot by US Marshals

Shamar Leggette, 41, was accused of robbing more than $1m worth of jewellery from Brooklyn bishop Lamor Whitehead

A man wanted for the robbery of Brooklyn’s “Bling Bishop” is dead after a confrontation with law enforcement.

Shamar Leggette, 41, was fatally shot by US Marshals during an attempted arrest on Wednesday. Legette had been in a hotel room in South Brunswick, New Jersey with his girlfriend when the officers showed up, CBS News reported.

Leggette opened fire on the federal officers, who then returned fire and killed him, officials said. His girlfriend reportedly surrendered at the scene.

In July 2022, Leggette and two others were accused of robbing more than $1m worth of jewellery from Brooklyn bishop Lamor Whitehead in the middle of a live-streamed church service.

The two alleged accomplices were arrested that September, but Leggette had evaded police ever since. He had previously been incarcerated for two armed robberies, and was listed as one of New York’s ‘Most wanted fugitives.’ 

Mr Whitehead said on a Wednesday night Instagram Live video that Leggette ‘was the guy that put the gun in my wife’s face and put the gun in my 8-month-old daughter’s face,’ according to the New York Post.

Despite this, he said he forgave him and was thinking about his loved ones.

“My condolences really go out to his family,” he said. “This is a sad situation where once again, we as African American people — it’s a cycle of destruction … It’s so senseless.”

“I forgive him and I do want to extend my services to the family,” he continued. “I would eulogise him, I will preach the service, whatever I can do in a pastor’s capacity, I will do it, free of charge.”