Teenager is arrested in connection with fatal Bronx subway station shooting

NEW YORK – A teenager was arrested on Feb 15 in connection with a shooting at a Bronx subway station this week that killed one person and injured five others, police said.

The teenager, Langel Jones, 16, was apprehended as he was leaving an apartment in the Highbridge neighbourhood of the Bronx where he lives with his mother, said New York City Police Department Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.

He will be charged with murder, Chief Kenny said.

Mr Obed Beltran-Sanchez, 35, a Mexican labourer who lived in the Bronx, a borough of New York City, was killed in the shooting.

Five other people, whose ages ranged from 14 to 71, were injured, police said.

The shooting took place during the afternoon rush hour on Feb 12 at the Mount Eden Avenue subway station in the Bronx.

It occurred after a fight broke out between two groups of teenagers on a northbound No. 4 train at 4.30pm local time.

Investigators believe the shooting was in retaliation for another shooting in January, Chief Kenny said.

In that shooting, on Jan 15, the two groups were fighting in front of a convenience store on Davidson Avenue in the Bronx when, police and Chief Kenny said, one of the boys, 14, shot at his rivals, striking a 17-year-old in the leg.

On Feb 12, the 14-year-old was on the No. 4 train with his friends when they ran into their rivals, including Jones.

“They just happened to kind of cross paths,” Chief Kenny said.

When the train arrived at the station and people began filing off, several people fired guns, police said.

The gunfire continued as passengers frantically exited the train and ran for cover.

Jones and another person shot at the rival group, who shot back at them, police said.

Nineteen shots were fired inside the train and on the platform.

Mr Beltran-Sanchez, who was killed, was shot in the chest.

“He was just a gentleman riding a train that heard a commotion and made the mistake of looking out on the platform to see what was going on,” Chief Kenny said. “Here’s a man just going about his business trying to make his way in life and makes the mistake of being curious.”

None of the guns used in the shooting have been recovered, Chief Kenny said.

The 14-year-old boy who is a suspect in the Jan 15 shooting was arrested on Feb 13 and charged with attempted murder in connection with that shooting. His name was not released.

Shootings in New York have been on the decline after a spike earlier in the Covid-19 pandemic, according to police department data.

The odds of getting seriously hurt on the subway are statistically low. There were six shootings on the subway in 2023 and nine in 2022, according to the NYPD’s Transit Bureau.

Chief Kenny said after the gunmen fled on Feb 12, Mr Beltran-Sanchez lay bleeding as commuters navigated around him.

“It’s heartbreaking to see the video of him dying as people are walking past him,” Chief Kenny said. “No one rendered aid.” NYTIMES