Suspect in Elmhurst bomb hoax turns himself in
Police officers and FDNY units along Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst on Jan. 4, 2021. Photo by Dean Moses
The hoax device that was found during the investigation.
Photo via Twitter/@NYPDnews
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | JAN. 8-JAN. 14, 2021 11
BY JACOB KAYE
The suspect wanted in connection
with the car bomb
hoax in the Queens Place
Mall parking garage on Monday,
Jan. 4, turned himself in
to the authorities a day later,
according to law enforcement
officials.
Louis Shenker, 22, called
911 and turned himself into
a Brooklyn precinct on Tuesday,
Jan. 5, around 3 a.m., after
a police investigation into the
bomb hoax began the morning
prior.
Shenker, whose last known
address was in Amherst,
Mass., has yet to be charged in
the bomb hoax, which was met
with the NYPD’s bomb squad
and caused an evacuation of
Queens Place Mall on Monday,
according to law enforcement
officials.
The bomb scare was first
reported around 7:30 a.m., on
Monday, Jan. 4, when a black
Tesla Model S with Nevada
plates, which was allegedly stolen,
was spotted with protruding
wires inside the Elmhurst
mall parking lot, law enforcement
officials said.
Investigating the suspicious
vehicle, the NYPD sealed
off several blocks around the
garage and evacuated both the
shopping center and several
nearby buildings.
Several hours later, around
11 a.m., law enforcement officials
determined the car was
rigged to appear to be a bomb,
though it was ultimately found
not to be, according to the
NYPD.
Police later discovered a
husky dog, which was rescued
by officers, inside the
car, along with sticks, propane
tanks, hot dogs and an assortment
of other seemingly random
items, according to law
enforcement officials.
Social media posts allegedly
authored by Shenker,
appear to express right-wing
conspiracy sentiments, echoing
the recent Christmas Day
Nashville bombing, allegedly
carried out by Anthony Warner,
who is believed to have espoused
similar sentiments.
An Instagram account believed
to belong to Shenker uses
the “StopTheSteal” hashtag in
its bio, a hashtag championed
by supporters of President Donald
Trump – and the president,
himself – who falsely believe
Trump won the November
presidential election.
In a video posted to Twitter
by the account Out Live Them
NYC, Shenker, who identifies
himself by his full name, argues
with a Black Lives Matter
protester. The video shows
Shenker, who appears to be recording
the argument as well,
threatening to send the video
to the popular far-right conspiracy
website InfoWars.
“My name is Louis Shenker,
L-O-U-I-S S-H-E-N-K-E-R,”
the 22-year-old says in the
video. “And any f-king communist
anit-Semite piece of
sh-t who thinks that America
is going to become a communist
nation…” he says before
the video ends.
The office of Queens
District Attorney Melinda
Katz has not responded to
QNS’ request for comment.
Immediately upon responding to the initial scene, officers rescued this husky that was trapped inside
the suspicious vehicle. Photo via Twitter/@NYPDnews
/QNS.COM
