NYPD: Tip leads to arrest, murder charge in Bronx subway shooting
Members of the NYPD at the scene late Monday outside the Mt. Eden Avenue subway station in the Bronx where one rider was shot and killed and five others wounded. Credit: Ed Quinn
A tip about his location led to the arrest of a 16-year-old alleged gang member in connection with a Bronx subway shooting Monday that left a rider dead, five wounded and had been “triggered” by a January shooting, a top NYPD official said Thursday.
Jangel Jones, allegedly a member of the D-Block gang, was taken into custody Thursday by members of a regional fugitive task force at his home on 172nd Street in the Bronx and charged with murder related to the death of a subway rider during the shooting inside the Mount Eden Avenue station, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
Jones was allegedly one of the shooters identified in surveillance images as firing a gun in a northerly direction on the northbound No. 4 platform during what police said was an argument between two Bronx gangs, Kenny said. Jones made no statements at the 44th Precinct after his arrest and requested a lawyer, the chief added.
Five people were wounded in the shooting, including a 14-year-old boy who Kenny said had been involved in a gang shooting Jan. 15 in front of a Bronx bodega on Davidson Avenue.
“We believe that this Jan. 15 shooting, that is what triggered the incident on Monday,” the chief said, adding that the feud at the bodega involved members of the D-Block and Burnside gangs. The wounded 14-year-old is believed to have been targeted, Kenny said.
Kenny said the weapons used in the subway shooting have not been recovered. However, ballistics match those of weapons recovered at the earlier bodega shooting, Kenny said.
Police for now, according to Kenny, were charging Jones with murder on the theory that all of the gang members in the subway fight were acting in concert in firing 19 shots. Police were still seeking two other suspects Thursday.
The rider who died in the shooting, Ohed Beltran-Sanches, 35, a day laborer from the Bronx, was hit by gunfire after he happened to look out of the subway car, Kenny said.
“It is heartbreaking to see the video of him laying on the platform, dying, as people just walking past him,” said a somber Kenny. “It is a testament to what these young kids are out there doing. Here is a man just going about his business trying to make his way in life and makes the mistake of being curious to see what is doing on, and takes one in the chest.”
Kenny added: “Nobody rendered aid.”
Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.
Not guilty plea in CVS killing ... Ex-doctor sentenced in sexual abuse case ... LI snack maker recalls products ... Learning to fly the trapeze
Not guilty plea in CVS killing ... Ex-doctor sentenced in sexual abuse case ... LI snack maker recalls products ... Learning to fly the trapeze
