Convicted drug dealer busted in pair of NYC shootings

A convicted drug dealer is facing murder and attempted murder charges in a pair of Harlem shootings just days apart, according to police sources.

Emres Smith, 35, was arrested Tuesday and charged with murder in the Nov. 17 shooting death of 36-year-old Susakii Young, police said Wednesday.

Young was shot in the head near a playground at NYCHA’s Wagner Houses and rushed to Harlem Hospital, but he could not be saved.

Cops caught up to Smith after the NYPD’s Facial Identification Section got a lead on the alleged gunman through a surveillance photo from a nearby store, police sources told The Post.

Smith is also accused of opening fire during a robbery just before 2 p.m. Nov. 13 that left a 61-year-old innocent bystander with a gunshot wound in the buttocks, police said.

The ex-con — who served two short stints in prison for weapons possession and drug dealing — allegedly pistol-whipped a 45-year-old man at the corner of West 125th Street and Lenox Avenue, cops said.

He then squeezed off a round during the robbery, which struck a 61-year-old who was sleeping on the street nearby, cops said. It was not known what was stolen.

Cops charged Smith with attempted murder, assault, robbery and weapons possession in the second shooting.

Smith was convicted in 2007 on a weapons charge and served less than a year behind bars, state Department of Corrections records show. He was also found guilty of criminal sale of a controlled substance in 2009 and served two years in prison, the records show.

New York City has continued to see a surge in shootings since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.

So far this year, there have been nearly 1,450 acts of gun violence in the Big Apple with 1,725 victims, which is nearly double 2019 stats for the same time, police data shows.