For several days last week, New York City was looking for a 31-year-old Bronx parolee named Jesus Acosta. Investigators said he was the person behind two late-night attacks on small businesses, about 48 hours apart, that left two men ᴅᴇᴀᴅ and a third wounded. On Saturday morning, Aug. 29, 2026, the NYPD announced he had been arrested. Local reports say officers found him in a Bronx park after an anonymous 911 tip, then took him to the 43rd Precinct and later to Bronx Criminal Court for arraignment.

The first incident police tied to him happened just after midnight on Sunday, Aug. 23, at American Best Wings & Pizza on Rockaway Avenue in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Officers responding to a 911 call found two men sH๏τ. One, 44-year-old employee MD Yousuf, later died. The other, a 39-year-old coworker identified in later reporting as Mohammed Rasel, was wounded in the leg and survived. Family members described Yousuf as a husband and father of two young daughters and the family’s main provider. Relatives have been raising money for funeral costs and to send his body back to Bangladesh.

Two nights later, around 12:15 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 25, police say a gunman walked into 149 Grill & Deli on East 149th Street in the Melrose / Mott Haven area of the Bronx. Surveillance video showed a customer being sH๏τ, then the gunman going behind the counter and taking cash before fleeing. The customer, 33-year-old Tayvon Shuler — known to family as “Plucky” — was taken to Lincoln Hospital and later died. His sister publicly mourned him and started a fundraiser for a memorial. Some reports also said the suspect took Shuler’s backpack.

The hunt intensified after police released pH๏τos and a description: about 5-foot-11, 175 pounds, short brown hair, brown eyes, with tattoos including “Bronx” on a hand and “Bobby” on a forearm. The FBI’s New York office posted a reward of up to $25,000. The United Bodegas of America added $10,000. Investigators said Acosta’s parole officer recognized him from circulating video and helped identify him.

His record became a central part of the public debate. Police and prison records cited by news outlets say he had about 13 prior arrests, including a robbery case as a teenager. In 2015, after an argument on a subway, he was accused of shooting a man on an East Harlem platform. He later pleaded guilty to ᴀssault and weapon possession and served about a decade in state prison. He was released on parole in April 2026 and was not due to finish parole until 2030. After the arrest, the bodega group said it was relieved he was in custody but argued the system failed by putting a repeat violent offender back on the street.

Charging documents described in local coverage include murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, robbery, and weapon-possession counts. ABC7 reported that when asked whether he did what police alleged, Acosta answered only, “God is good, God is great.” A lawyer for him was not immediately named in early reports. The case is now in the court system; no verdict has been reached.

The shootings also rattled nearby store workers. Some said they were closing earlier or watching the street more closely, arguing that late-night shops remain easy targets. That reaction, plus the victims’ family fundraisers, is the other side of the story now that the manhunt is over: two families burying relatives, one wounded worker recovering, and a defendant in custody after a week that began with two small businesses and ended in Bronx Criminal Court.