Police hold a press conference Thursday after apprehending a shooter in Jamaica (Photo via @NYPDnews)
Aug. 9, 2021 By Michael Dorgan
A Bronx man who fired off shots during a dispute Thursday on a Jamaica street and struck two innocent passengers sitting on a nearby MTA bus has been slapped with assault and weapons charges.
Melvin Adams, 43, fired his gun after getting into a heated exchange with a stranger on 148th Street and Jamaica Avenue at around 8:55 a.m.
Adams allegedly missed his target and the bullets went through the windshield of a Q8 bus before striking a 66-year-old passenger in the shoulder and a 20-year-old man in the hand, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office.
Both victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries and are expected to survive.
“We can’t live in a world where a petty dispute on the street between strangers end ups with innocent people getting shot at on a city bus,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement Friday.
According to the complaint, Adams got into a dispute with a stranger while walking along the street.
He then crossed the road and was seen crouching down and reaching into his backpack before he allegedly pulled out a black pistol. Adams, according to authorities, then fired off shots at the stranger but missed.
The shots went through the front windshield of the bus, with one of the bullets hitting a 66-year-old man in the shoulder. Another bullet struck a 20-year-old man in the arm and hand.
Both victims were transported to a nearby hospital and treated for their injuries.
Two NYPD officers in a patrol car witnessed the incident and saw Adams attempt to flee the scene.
The officers called in the incident over police radio and then two other cops gave chase on foot and apprehended him by discharging a taser.
The cops allegedly recovered his backpack and found a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson pistol with one round in the chamber and eleven rounds of ammunition in the magazine, prosecutors said. An additional magazine with 15 rounds of ammunition was also allegedly recovered from the backpack, prosecutors said.
Adams was held on $100,000 bail following his arraignment in Queens Criminal Court Friday. His next court date is set for Tuesday, an official for the Queens District Attorney’s office said.
He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
Watch as NYPD executives provide an update to the shooting earlier in the @nypd103pct. pic.twitter.com/5yimxtWzQ0
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) August 5, 2021
Featured Events
