A 76-year-old Bronx man shot his 21-year-old neighbor to death after a feud that lasted for years, police and sources said.
Police officers nabbed 76-year-old Gilbert Smalls on Friday, less than a day after he allegedly killed 21-year-old Justin Chatfield at their Morris Heights apartment building, cops said.
The incident took place around 10:20 p.m. Thursday when cops responded to a 911 call at 30 Richman Plaza and discovered Chatfield with a gunshot wound to the torso, police said.
The duo had lived in the same apartment building – and had been involved in some sort of dispute for the past five years, according to cops and sources.
That conflict between the two reached its climax on Thursday night, when Chatfield knocked on Smalls’ door, only to be blown away when Smalls opened it, sources said.
EMS rushed Chatfield to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he later died, according to authorities.
Both men had a history of run-ins with the law, according to law enforcement sources.
The elder Smalls had at least two priors – though his last arrest was over 25 years ago for assault – and he had managed to stay clean until Thursday night’s shooting, law enforcement sources said.
The junior Chatfield also had at least three recent priors, and was wanted in connection to robberies at the time of his death, law enforcement sources said.