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Ex-Con Kills Two, Injures One In Queens Shooting Spree
By
Ben Yakas
Published Dec 3, 2011
Modified Dec 4, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Dec 3, 2011
Modified Dec 4, 2011
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A paranoid ex-con fatally shot his girlfriend's teenage son, then killed one person and injured another on a Q111 NYC Transit bus in Queens during a 15 minute shooting spree yesterday afternoon. According to the News, Damel Burton, 34, told cops the bus shooting occurred because he believed the commuters were plotting against him. “People on the bus were on the phone and he thought they were talking about him,” a police source said.
Police say the spree began when Burton, who spent seven years in prison for armed robbery, got into an argument with 18-year-old Keith Murrell and shot him in the chest in the Jamaica, Queens apartment they shared with Sheen Tucker, Murrell’s mother and Burton's girlfriend. Keith was able to leap out the window of his room and run to a nearby Royal Fried Chicken store to get help. He collapsed outside the chicken joint and later died at Jamaica Hospital. “I had to settle a beef,” Burton later told cops of that shooting.
Burton meanwhile got on the Q111 NYC Transit bus less than 15 minutes after that shooting, where he became increasingly unhinged. He randomly shot commuter Marvin Gikes, 36, in the back of the head—Gikes collapsed on the bus’ rear steps and died. Then he shot commuter Jojuan Lipsey, 29, in the face as passengers started screaming. WItnesses described the scene as "pandemonium" and "crazy" to the Post.
"What I saw was a sea of people young and old running in one direction," one witness told NY1. Then I saw a number of people going away from the danger. One young woman was very upset. She was on her cell phone and she looked at me and said two people got shot."
Lipsey, a state-employed counselor for developmentally disabled patients, survived the shooting, which hit his mouth. Burton ran off the bus, was caught less than a block away by police still carrying a semi-automatic 9-mm. Ruger pistol. He has been charged with second-degree murder, gun possession and assault.
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damel burton
death
gun violence
MTA
nyc transit
paranoia
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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