Police Arrest 25-Year-Old Man In Shooting Of Hasidic Teen In Harriman

HARRIMAN, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Orange County police have made an arrest in the shooting of a teenager in a shopping plaza parking lot.

Harriman resident Matthew Bauman, 25, was arrested on Thanksgiving Day, CBS2's Lou Young reported.

"The guilt ate away at him enough that he was able to confide in people who meant a lot to him, and it was difficult for those people to come forward and bring him," said New York State Police Troop F Lt Michael Drake.

Police said Bauman had stolen a gun from a family member and was about to rob a newly opened Quick Shop convenience store on River Road Tuesday night to fund a heroin habit when he encountered a Hasidic man on his cellphone.

The victim -- Aaron Weiss, 19 -- was shot once in the back as he tried to get away from the suspect.

As heavily armed police responded, members of the Ultra Orthodox Jewish community in the area were alarmed by the sudden spasm of violence.

"A lot of police, a lot of people," said one resident. "(Young: Are you worried?) Of course we are because we don't why it happened."

"You know, with the high tensions in Israel, everybody thought it might be related to terror or something," said Aaron Spielman, a friend of the victim's.

Friends of Weiss' said he's back at school and grateful to be alive.

"He is very lucky," Spielman said. "He was in the hospital just for a few hours...he was in school the next day...Thankfully it missed his lungs by an inch."

Bauman is charged with assault and attempted robbery. He's being held without bail at the Orange County Jail.