A 15-year-old boy was killed Friday after a shooting inside a Queens train, police confirmed.
NYPD officers responded to reports of gunfire inside the Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue station at around 3:43 p.m. While the exact details surrounding the shooting are not yet known, police sources say Jayjon Burnett of Queens was gunned down while on a moving southbound A train somewhere between 25th Street and Mott Avenue. He was hit with a single bullet to the chest.
A fellow passenger pulled the boy onto the platform where NYPD attempted to resuscitate the young man, but he could not be revived. Burnett was rushed to Cohen Children’s Medical Center by EMS where he was pronounced dead at 4:40 p.m., police added.
During a late evening press conference, NYPD Chief of Transit Jason Wilcox revealed that two groups of youngsters were spotted engaging in a verbal argument that swiftly escalated into gunfire. While Chief Wilcox said that detectives will be combing surveillance footage, he also pleaded for the public’s help in order to catch the shooter.
“There were numerous people on that train that may have seen or heard what transpired. We ask those individuals to contact our Crime Stoppers Hotline,” Chief Wilcox said.
The MTA announced that train service was suspended for several hours between Rockaway-Mott Avenue and Broad Channel in both directions and advised straphangers to find alternative routes.
This latest spark of gun violence comes after Top Cop Keechant Sewell told amNewYork Metro that she is flooding the transit system with more police officers to try and curb the bullet storm.
NYPD officials do not believe the attack to be random at this time. No arrests have been made, the investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.
