A troubled teen menace was nabbed Tuesday for fatally gunning down a 14-year-old boy on a scooter in Queens last month, sources said - revealing the killing involved an online spat, not a robbery.

Police busted the 17-year-old suspect - a Crips gang associate - at his home around 11:30 a.m. and charged him with murder for blasting Malakai Adams in the back and then zooming off on the victim's scooter Sept. 21 in Edgemere, according to cops.

4 A scooter and shell casings sit on the ground at the scene where a 14-year-old boy was shot and killed at 430 Beach 54 Street in the Far Rockaway neighborhood of Queens in New York on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. No arrests have been made and the NYPD investigation is ongoing. Kyle Mazza/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

Law-enforcement sources at the time described the shooting as a possible scooter robbery gone wrong but said Tuesday that the two teens had been involved in an online argument.

The alleged killer, whose identity was not released because of his age, was previously caught with a loaded .22-caliber pistol in July 2025 after cops stopped him for shooting fireworks at passers-by, sources told The Post.

4 A GoFundMe page displays a photo of Malakai Adams, who was shot and killed while riding his scooter on Beach Channel Drive near Beach 51st Street in the Edgemere neighborhood of the Rockaways. GoFundMe

4 A scooter and shell casings lie on the ground at the scene where a 14-year-old boy was shot and killed at 430 Beach 54 Street in Far Rockaway, Queens, New York, Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. Kyle Mazza/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

The outcome of that case is not public because of his age.

Police sources said the suspect is associated with the Crips gang but is not in the NYPD's official gang database.

Last month's violence exploded when the killer ran up to the scooter-riding Adams with a gun around 3:40 p.m. behind Ocean Bay Apartments on Beach Channel Drive, an area locals say is plagued with crime.

4 A photo released by the New York City Police Department shows a suspect wanted in connection with the homicide of 14-year-old Malakai Adams in Queens, 
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