NEW YORK — Authorities on Friday said a machine pistol used by a street hustler shot dead in a Times Square gunfight was purchased at a Virginia gun shop whose business card was found in the aspiring rapper’s pocket, and they were looking for the woman who bought the gun.
Raymond Martinez, who wrote songs about staring down cops in Times Square and hawked CDs to tourists, was carrying a pocketful of business cards from Virginia gun dealers and a stolen Mac-10 pistol when he was killed by a plainclothes officer near the Marriott Marquis hotel. The handgun, which held 30 rounds, jammed after Martinez got off three shots.
Jordan Kelsey-Stewart, 25, bought the weapon from Dale’s Guns in Powhatan, Va., said police spokesman Paul Browne.
Officials with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are trying to find her and are investigating whether she had any connection with Martinez; a telephone listing for her could not immediately be found Friday.
Police said Kelsey-Stewart reported the gun stolen from her car Oct. 28 in Richmond, Va.
It was unclear how Martinez obtained it, and there was evidence he owned it for only a brief period of time — weeks at most and perhaps just days.
Investigators also were trying to determine whether Martinez had other weapons. They said they found a .22-caliber handgun during a police search of Martinez’s home on Friday.
“We’re actively investigating whether he was involved in purchasing firearms,” said chief NYPD spokesman Paul Browne.
Dale Blankenship, who owns Dale’s Guns, said he provided the information about who bought the gun to the ATF earlier Friday. He said Kelsey-Stewart was from the Richmond area, had all the proper identification and passed a background check when she purchased the weapon.
Blankenship said she bought the gun by herself. He didn’t know what happened to the gun after he sold it.
“I have no idea,” he told The Associated Press. “I really don’t know what happened. I don’t know how the gun was stolen.”
Martinez, 25, went by the rap name “Ready” and sold CDs for his group, Square Free, in Times Square. He was part of a freelance collection of hawkers who sell self-produced wares on the street.
Police said Martinez ran a scam in which he would autograph a CD or put a passerby’s name on it, and then demand payment of $10. He had been arrested June 19 at 1515 Broadway, the exact same location where Thursday’s confrontation started, for not having a tax stamp, which allows hawkers to sell their self-produced wares.
Martinez and his brother are well known to regular Times Square denizens and videos of them rapping and getting hassled by police are posted on YouTube.
In one shaky video, Martinez shouts, “They ain’t taking me nowhere!” and “I’m ready to lay some down!” as officers, their hands in their pockets, escort him from the area.
His lyrics talk of hawking CDs and staring down cops.
Sgt. Christopher Newsom usually works in uniform on a task force that tracks aggressive peddling. He was in plainclothes when he stopped Martinez on Thursday and asked him for his tax stamp, setting off the chase and shootout.
Daniel O’Phalen, 24, who passes out fliers in Times Square for the musical “White Christmas,” said Martinez was part of a regular crew of CD salesmen. Sometimes, he said, the group would order him off a corner, saying he was on their territory.
“They’re pushy. They’re not nice guys,” he said.
