Accused Subway Shooter Indicted In Upper East Side Attack: DA

UPPER EAST SIDE, NYC — A man officially faces an attempted murder charge in a subway shooting that gripped the Upper East Side earlier this month amid growing fears of transit crime, authorities said.

Steven Sylvester, 34, was indicted Monday for the shooting of a 32-year-old straphanger on a crowded train at an Upper East Side station, prosecutors said.

"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 Alvin Bragg, district attorney for Manhattan, in a statement.

Prosecutors said that on June 2, around 2:25 a.m., Sylvester got into a physical fight with his girlfriend while aboard a crowded northbound 4 train. Noticing the escalating argument, a good Samaritan intervened by grabbing Sylvester from behind.

As the train entered the 86th Street and Lexington Avenue station and the doors opened, Sylvester pulled out a gun and fired a shot toward the good Samaritan, who was a few feet away, narrowly missing him, police said.

The bullet instead struck the train door, denting it, and then hit the window of the train car. Upon ricocheting off the window, the bullet hit a man entering the train car, causing a gunshot wound to his left hand and graze wounds to his torso.

Sylvester quickly fled the scene after opening fire before being arrested on June 6, prosecutors said. The next day, following a search warrant for his apartment, officers found clothing and accessories Sylvester was seen wearing during the shooting, along with a magazine and bullets.

"This alleged conduct is very serious and put fellow subway riders at risk of being injured," Bragg added. "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 since been charged with one count each of attempted murder, attempted assault, and assault. Additionally, he faces two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, court records show.