Package Bomber Who Killed Queens Man Arrested In Flatbush: Feds

EAST FLATBUSH, BROOKLYN — The Brooklyn man whose package bomb killed an innocent 73-year-old Queens man in a mistaken attempt to terrorize an NYPD officer has been arrested, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Federal agents arrested 37-year-old Victor Kingsley — who stands accused of killing George Wray with a package bomb in Springfield Gardens, Queens, on July 28 — in Flatbush on Wednesday, according to federal prosecutors.

Kingsley meant to target NYPD police officers involved in his January 2014 arrest when he delivered the explosive, built out of items he bought on Amazon, prosecutors said.

Kingsley left the bomb outside Wray’s home because he mistakenly believed it belonged to a police officer he blamed for his arrest, according to federal prosecutors.

Wray triggered the explosives when he opened a package left on his front porch on 222nd Street near 145th Road around 4 p.m. on July 28, police said.

Emergency responders rushed Wray — who was badly burned on his head, chest and legs — to Nassau University Medical Center where he later died on Aug. 1, police said.

Police released a sketch of a suspect one day after Wray's death, but that did not stop the Flatbush man from pursuing revenge and buying more bomb components on Amazon earlier in February, said prosecutors.

Law enforcement officials flocked to East 43rd Street near Church Avenue to arrest Kingsley exactly seven months after the package bomb was detonated, said police and an FBI spokeswoman.

Kinglsey has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction and could face a life sentence if convicted, prosecutors said.

“Kingsley used an improvised explosive device in an attempt to target an NYPD officer, and he killed an innocent civilian in the process,” said United States Attorney Richard P. Donoghue in a statement.

“This Office and our law enforcement partners will use every tool at our disposal to bring to justice those who endanger the community through acts of senseless violence.”

Kingsley is expected to appear in Brooklyn Federal Court on Thursday, according to prosecutors.

Photo courtesy of the NYPD