One of the shooters who killed two brothers and injured two others in a spray of bullets outside a Bronx Popeye’s had his gun jam before he could fire off more rounds, prosecutors said Monday.
The other shooter was arrested as he was cutting off his long locks — a distinguishing feature cops had spotted in surveillance footage of the shooting.
Salvatore Rivera, 51, and Jose Parilla, 32, are charged with murder and other charges in the deaths of brothers Jeremiah Smith, 24, and Devren Smith, 37, police said.
The accused gunmen fired off shots outside the fast food joint on East Tremont and Hughes Aves. in Tremont around 2:30 p.m. Friday, where they also hit two other men with bullets, according to cops.
The two less seriously injured victims, ages 58 and 36, were struck in the ankle and buttocks and were treated at St. Barnabas Hospital and released.
The Smith brothers, however, were not as fortunate. They both died of their wounds at the same hospital within nine hours of each other.
Following separate arraignments in Bronx Criminal Court, both Rivera and Parilla were ordered held without bail.
Both men admitted to police they were at the scene of the shooting and fired off rounds from two guns, prosecutors said. Parilla told cops the gun he was using jammed as he was firing into the crowd outside the Popeye’s.
“My client vehemently denies ever making [a statement],” Parilla’s defense attorney argued.
The Smith brothers’ aunts held each other as they sobbed while prosecutors read off charges at the hearing.
“Oh, my God!” one of the women screamed in the hallway outside the courtroom Monday afternoon. “My nephews will never come back!!”
At Rivera’s arraignment Sunday night, prosecutors said that when cops caught up to him, he was cutting off his hair — which had been long when he was spotted on surveillance footage earlier that day.
He admitted to arresting officers he was at the scene of the shooting and fired off rounds from a .38-caliber handgun, which cops recovered while executing a search warrant, prosecutors said.
On Sunday, Devren and Jeremiah’s brother told the Daily News the family does not know the gunmen and do not recognize their names.
“It just happened. It’s a shock,” said Daquan Shepard, 32, “Nobody expected to lose two of their siblings in one day, especially to something like this.”