A Manhattan subway shooter who wounded a straphanger during a wild incident on board a 4 train earlier this month has been indicted on attempted murder charges, prosecutors announced Monday.
Steven Sylvester, 34, allegedly got into a physical argument with his girlfriend as they rode a crowded Bronx-bound 4 train approaching the 86th Street station on the Upper East Side at about 2:25 a.m. on June 2.
According to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a 35-year-old Good Samaritan witnessed the fight and intervened, grabbing Sylvester from behind and pulling him away from the suspect’s girlfriend.
That led Sylvester into a physical struggle with the Good Samaritan, prosecutors said. As the train arrived at 86th Street, Sylvester allegedly pulled out a firearm and opened fire just as the doors to the train car opened.
The slug, law enforcement sources said, missed the Good Samaritan, but instead ricocheted off the train door, bounced off a window and hit the straphanger, a 32-year-old man who just happened to be walking aboard the train car.
Fortunately, Bragg noted, the straphanger survived the experience — winding up with graze wounds to his torso and a bullet wound on his left hand.
After firing the shot, prosecutors said, Sylvester fled the scene in an unknown direction. Detectives with the 19th Precinct Detective Squad eventually tracked him down on June 6, then searched his apartment to find clothing and accessories matching what Sylvester wore at the time of the shooting, along with ammunition.
“As alleged, Steven Sylvester carried a loaded firearm onto a public, crowded train and intended to use it against a Good Samaritan, shooting an innocent bystander in the process,” said Bragg on June 24. “This alleged conduct is very serious and put fellow subway riders at risk of being injured. We will continue holding people accountable who misuse our transit system as a hub for dangerous weapons and violence and I wish the victim a speedy recovery.”
Sylvester has been indicted on charges of second-degree attempted murder, first-degree attempted assault, second-degree attempted murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
During an arraignment hearing on June 24 in Manhattan Criminal Court, Judge Laura A. Ward ordered Sylvester held on $1 million cash bail or $2 million bond. According to court records, the suspect is scheduled to return to court on Sept. 3.
