A string of shootings ended on a bus Friday afternoon after a man killed his girlfriend’s son and minutes later fled onto the Q111 where he shot two more men, one in the jaw and one fatally in the back of the head.
The suspect, Damel Burton, 34, of Jamaica, was captured by police blocks away from the second shooting. He told them he would have shot more people if his gun hadn’t jammed.
Burton’s spree started at about 4 p.m. on Dec. 2 when he entered an apartment at 163-11 Foch Boulevard in Jamaica, where he and his girlfriend lived. There, he allegedly shot his girlfriend’s 18-year-old son, Keith Murrell, once in the chest.
Police said Murrell managed to escape the room by jumping out of the window to the ground below. He then crossed the street where he collapsed. He was transported to Jamaica Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Meanwhile, Burton left the apartment and boarded the Q111 bus. While the bus was rolling down Archer Avenue near Parsons Boulevard, he indiscriminately opened fire on the passengers.
Police said he then shot a commuter, Marvin Gilkes, 36, in the back of the head. Gilkes collapsed dead in the back stairwell of the bus. Burton then shot a third man in the mouth.
Published reports have identified the third victim as 29-year-old Jojuan Lipsey, another random commuter. He was taken to Jamaica Hospital for surgery and is expected to survive.
“This is crazy,” said Lori Walker, a bystander after the shooting who rides the Q111 to visit her sister in the area. “I imagine these parents waiting for their kids and they never come home.”
Burton is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, one count of second-degree attempted murder, one count of first-degree assault and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
He is scheduled for arraignment in Queens Criminal Court on March 1 and faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
“These shootings are particularly disturbing for having exploded during an otherwise routine afternoon bus ride filled with shoppers, students and ordinary people returning from work,” Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement. “Violence such as this will not be tolerated, especially aboard public transportation.”
By Jeremiah Dobruck
