NYPD detectives have arrested a teenager in connection to a shooting on a Queens subway train that left a15-year-old boy paralyzed on life support, police said Thursday.
The 16-year-old suspect, whose name is not being released because he is underage, was nabbed Wednesday afternoon for the clash two days earlier on a Manhattan-bound A train approaching the 80th St. station in Ozone Park.
Police sources say he is being charged as an accomplice who was with the shooter on Monday — and is believed to have shot and wounded the same victim back in February. He is charged with attempted murder, assault and weapon possession.
The 15-year-old victim was shot in the neck and back during the clash on the Queens subway train. He remains in the hospital on a breathing machine, according to relatives worried he may never fully recover.
One of the bullets in Monday’s shooting hit the teen’s spine, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down, his mother said. As the family keep vigil by his bedside, the teen is able to communicate only through handwritten notes.
The victim was on the A train about 6 p.m. when he saw the teen who had shot him in the leg on Feb. 7 during a clash inside a building on Everdell Ave. not far from the victim’s family’s former home in Far Rockaway, police sources said.
Police arrested the shooter, who was 15 at the time, in March and charged him in the February shooting but he was released after the victim refused to testify, leaving prosecutors with no viable case, sources said. The case for the February shooting is still open, sources said.
When the victim confronted the suspect from the February shooting on the train, the suspect was armed, but did not pull his weapon at first, sources said.
The two teens fought until the suspect’s friend, who sported dreadlocks, grabbed the suspect’s weapon and opened fire, hitting the victim twice.
The victim was rushed to Jamaica Hospital.
Police quickly identified the accomplice, who was picked up in Far Rockaway by members of an NYPD Neighborhood Safety Team on Wednesday afternoon. His arraignment in Queens Criminal Court was pending.
It was not immediately clear if the charges he’s facing include the February shooting.
“This was an unacceptable incident,” Mayor Mamdani said in a statement Monday. “Violence like this has no place on our subway system, and my administration is committed to doing everything in our power to make every New Yorker — especially children — safe on their daily commutes.”
Monday’s shooting caused a mass panic on the subway car with straphangers stampeding towards the exits as the train entered the station.
Law enforcement sources say the victim has been linked to multiple robbery patterns and has a criminal record that includes numerous arrests.
The shooting comes as the NYPD fights teen gun violence. So far this year through April 19, 29 of the city’s 201 shooting victims have been under 18 making up 14% of the victims, according to the NYPD.
Monday’s suspected shooter is still being sought. Cops released surveillance images of him Tuesday and are asking the public’s help identifying him and tracking him down.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
