A 13-year-old boy was fatally stabbed on an MTA bus Friday on Staten Island.
The incident took place near the Hylan Boulevard and Littlefield Avenue in Eltingville around 2:30 p.m, per CBS News. Authorities have taken a 14-year-old boy into police custody in connection with the incident. Witnesses on the bus claimed the 13-year-old victim and the 14-year-old suspect engaged in a heated argument, allegedly escalating into a violent confrontation.
“Witnesses state there’s an argument on a bus. A knife is produced, and gang signs were being shown back and forth,” NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said in a statement. The 14-year-old allegedly stabbed the victim in the chest during the confrontation.
A 13-year-old boy was stabbed on an MTA bus and later died Friday on Staten Island. https://t.co/6qFpcW7Q6l
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 7, 2023
“The other kid who got stabbed was sitting on the bus with us, like a few seats ahead of us, and the other kid walks in and they started yelling at each other. I guess they knew each other, had beef or something. And he walked over, pulled a knife out of his pocket, grabbed him and started stabbing him. They started like wrestling back and forth, and just kept stabbing him and stabbing him until he left the bus and ran off,” a teenage witness recounted. (RELATED: 5 Kids Struck And Killed At School Bus Stops In One Week — ‘Distracted Driving Plays A Huge Role’)
The assailant fled the scene, but a state environmental conservation officer and a retired NYPD sergeant managed to track down the 14-year-old suspect, CBS reported. The retired sergeant apprehended the suspect, and he was taken into custody.
The bus driver was reportedly deeply affected by the incident, per ABC News. “He’s visibly broken up about what transpired but was able to maintain his calm,” Demetrius Crichlow, Senior Vice President of the NYC Transit Department of Subways, told the reporters. Crichlow commended the driver as he promptly contacted police and “did a fantastic job in trying to maintain calm on the bus.”
Despite the victim, identified as Syles Ular, a resident of Staten Island, being rushed to a local hospital, he ultimately succumbed to his injuries. Investigators have been reviewing video footage from on-board cameras and gathering evidence at the scene, per CBS.
“Tragic, tragic homicide today,” Chell said in a statement as published by ABC News. “We believe this motive is possibly gang-related.”