A lawyer in Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's administration who was shot in the head by an errant bullet on Labor Day died Wednesday night after he was taken off life support, the family said.
Carey Gabay, 43, a first deputy general counsel for the Empire State Development Corp., had been declared brain dead at Kings County Hospital Center in Brooklyn.
Gabay was shot Sept. 7 at a pre-dawn street party before the West Indian Day Parade when he was caught in the crossfire between two rival gangs. He was walking with his brother near the Brooklyn parade route at 3:40 a.m. when he was shot.
"We are saddened to announce that after an arduous week, Carey Gabay, our husband, son, brother, uncle and friend, has been declared brain dead as of late Tuesday," his family said in a statement released Wednesday.
"There are difficult decisions we will face in the coming hours and days as our family struggles to process what this means for us."
They celebrated him as a "kindhearted and selfless soul who has touched the spirit of everyone he's met."
Cuomo asked New Yorkers to keep Gabay and his family in their thoughts and prayers.
Detectives are still searching for the gunmen involved in the shooting that critically wounded Gabay and marred the pre-parade J'Ouvert celebration.
The NYPD and Gabay's family urged that anyone with information contact authorities.
Gabay, who was married, was born to Jamaican immigrant parents, raised in a public housing complex in the Bronx and went on to earn a law degree from Harvard University, in what the governor called an example of "the American dream."
Cuomo, Mayor Bill de Blasio and other elected officials commended Gabay for his public service and called for the strengthening of gun laws to prevent senseless deaths.
Earlier Wednesday, Gabay's family thanked the doctors and staff at Kings County Hospital Center for caring for him.
"Carey has been fighting bravely, surrounded by the loved ones to whom he has brought so much joy with his jovial nature, generosity of spirit and enduring smile," they said, adding: "This is a nightmare that's shaken our resolve and tested our faith."
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