Bishop with close ties to Eric Adams negotiates surrender of NYC subway shooter to police

Andrew Abdullah, 25, was charged with second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon following a shooting on the Q train on Sunday, with his arrest coming after a failed attempt to arrange his surrender by Bishop Lamor Whitehead.

Whitehead, a convict who served a five-year prison sentence for identity fraud and grand larceny, also has a relationship with Mayor Eric Adams, who he calls a "friend" and "mentor."

Whitehead is a Bishop in the Leaders of Tomorrow International Churches and attended events high-profile events with Adams while he was the Brooklyn borough president.

Adams called Whitehead his "good friend and brother" in 2016, years after he was arrested and imprisoned for a $2 million identity-theft scam.

Whitehead was also arrested in July of 2015 for allegedly hitting his 7-year-old son, according to a parole violation "release report" previously obtained by The New York Post.

This case was dropped due to there not being probable cause to prosecute.

Whitehead was present at the negotiations at a Chinatown station house where Abdullah was arrested on Tuesday, who sought to turn himself in to Mayor Eric Adams through Whitehead.

He was instead detained by police officers in Manhattan.

Abdullah's lawyers have since complained about how he was treated during the negotiations.

"Before Andrew Abdullah could voluntarily surrender himself to the local precinct, he was needlessly ambushed out front of our Manhattan trial office by City Marshals, denied of his opportunity to first consult with counsel," legal aid said in a statement.

"Since last night we have been actively speaking with the New York Police Department and the New York County District Attorney’s Office to negotiate his surrender, and what transpired today was completely inappropriate and unwarranted given those conversations," it said, according to the New York Post.

Whitehead said that he was "startled" when police entered the building "guns drawn... and made Abdullah get on the floor."

Whitehead said that Abdullah is "innocent," and that his family "has untold paperwork showing that he has mental health issues. As he states, he doesn’t remember anything. I pray that the courts do the right thing with this young man," the bishop said. "But as per him wanting to turn himself in, I don’t believe he’s a villain."

Whitehead said he reached out to Mayor Adam's office to negotiate a peaceful surrender.

"Mayor Adams, we’ve been in contact all morning and he was ready to be here for the young man to be turned in," he said during negotiations.

"I wish the police department would have done it a little different and allowed what pastors do. This is what we do," the bishop said. "And this really hurts me because I thought we had a relationship, right? And I understand the seriousness of the crime — the alleged crime. But we have to have a segue. We have to have a segue between the community and the police department. And I want to thank the mayor for understanding and being a great support for this young man turning himself in."

Whitehead says he doesn't want to "get into" what he would have said to Adams, but said that he was in support of Abdullah turning himself in peacefully.

"Mayor Adams is cleaning this city up. And to hear that the alleged person did the crime is willing to turn himself in, he was glad to hear this," Whitehead said.