THE NYPD IS asking for the public’s help identifying the persons seen in this video who they say are wanted for questioning in connection with a homicide that occurred aboard the D train at 182nd-183rd Street in Fordham Heights on Friday morning, Feb. 23, 2024. Video courtesy of the NYPD

The NYPD is asking for the public’s help identifying the three people seen in the attached video and photos who are sought in connection to a homicide that occurred aboard the D train at 182nd-183rd Street subway station in Fordham Heights in the early hours of Friday, Feb. 23. The incident comes on the back of a mass shooting on the 4 line at nearby Mt. Eden subway station earlier this month.

 

Police said that on Friday at around 5.02 a.m., the victim, a 45-year-old man [later identified as William AI Alvarez], was seated aboard a southbound D train departing the Fordham Road subway station [one stop before the station where the incident occurred], when an unidentified person sat next to him and a verbal dispute ensued. They said the dispute escalated into a physical altercation and the person who sat next to the victim was later joined by two additional individuals, who, acting in concert, physically assaulted Alvarez.

 

Police said the three assailants were last seen fleeing the train at the 182nd-183rd Street subway station and the victim was transported by EMS to St. Barnabas Hospital where he was pronounced deceased.

They said the victim suffered a wound consistent with either a gunshot or a puncture wound from a sharp object to the chest and said the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will determine the type of wound, and the victim’s cause of death.

 

Police went on to say that the three people sought are described as two males and one female, and added that the identity of the deceased was being withheld pending family notification.

 

[As subsequently reported, pursuant to an ongoing investigation, police said on Sunday, Feb. 25, that Justin Herde, 24, Betty Cotto, 38, and Alfredo Trinidad, 42, were identified as the three people sought in connection with the incident. On Monday, they said Herde of East 205th Street in Bedford Park, Cotto, of nearby Villa Avenue, also in Bedford Park, and Trinidad, of the same Villa Avenue address in Bedford Park, were each charged with murder, manslaughter, and criminal possession of a weapon. They are presumed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.]

 

The victim was later identified as Alvarez of Parkchester. During a press conference later on Friday, NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper said, “I’ve been fully briefed and updated on how this case is progressing and as I stand here right now, I am very confident that identifications and arrests will be made in the near future.”

 

NYPD Chief Jerry O’Sullivan of the detective bureau said during the same press conference, “Based on video, we’re able to determine that at 4.57 hours, this morning, three individuals get on the train on Kingsbridge Road and Grand Concourse [two stops before the station where the incident occurred]. They enter the second car of an eight-car train, which is traveling southbound, on the D train. The cameras in that car capture that entire train ride. It was very helpful and I’m confident it’s going to be helpful in our investigation, in addition to the prosecution.”

Also at the press conference was Janno Lieber, MTA chair and CEO, other NYPD officials, and Robert Kelly, leader of TW local 100, who represents station agents and those who work in the subway stations.

 

Lieber said of the homicide, “Listen, anytime there’s an event like this New Yorkers are alarmed. The subway is a place that everybody in New York depends on. It’s got to be safe. It’s got to feel safe, even if you’re traveling in the middle of the night, like this when this incident occurred. So, we have to push back against gun violence across the city, but we also have to focus on making sure that the subways are safe from any kind of weapons, any kind of weapons.”

 

The MTA chair added, “That’s why I am actually reassured today because the NYPD has, last year, pushed up the number of gun arrests in the system by 33%. They’re taking a lot of guns out of the system. In the city, in general, shootings are way down but keeping guns out of the subway system, keeping weapons out of the subway system is a high priority, and this is what we are working on with the NYPD and with Mayor Adams on so intensely. It’s really, really important. Results are starting to be shown; 16 guns have already been taken off of people this year, 16 guns out of the subway system just to yesterday.”

 

Lieber continued, “Getting weapons out of the subway system so New Yorkers can feel safe is super important. Now, there’s nothing I could say to folks who are feeling unsafe today except that there is progress being made on getting weapons out of the system. One reason that progress is being made is that the NYPD, under Mayor Adams leadership, has pumped cops into the system. You heard about the surge in subway crime in the month of January, compared to last year. Well, you know what? In the month of February, it’s down compared to last year, and that’s because Mayor Adams and the NYPD have surged cops into the subway system.”

Lieber said if anybody had been riding the subway this week, they would have seen “thousands more cops” on the platforms in the stations and on the mezzanine. “So, while today, we’re recognizing a really, really upsetting episode that makes riders feel unsafe, I am hopeful, and I am determined that along with this mayor, we are going to make progress,” he said.

 

The MTA chair went on to say that he he had spoken to Gov. Kathy Holchul about this incident. (The MTA falls under the responsibility of NY State.) “One thing that is also important to note is that her initiative to put cameras in every subway car actually paid off in this case, that this whole incident was recorded on a camera that was inside the subway car as a result of the Cops Cameras Care initiative that Gov. Hochul started with Mayor Adams’ support last year.”

 

He said work was ongoing to install a camera in “every last car in the subway system.” Lieber continued, “In this case, it paid off and I hope and I’m confident that that’s going to help the investigation. It can’t minimize what happened today, but we are determined and we are hopeful that we’re going to make the subway system as safe as it needs to be and feel as safe as it should be for all New Yorkers.”

Kemper also spoke about cameras, saying, “How many times can we talk about the vast network of video surveillance in the subway station? How many times can we talk about example, after example, after example of incidents occurring, captured on video, leading to identifications, leading to arrests, leading to prosecutions, and leading to jail. That is exactly what occurred today in today’s incident. These videos are not only in the subway stations, on the platforms, in the mezzanine areas, but they’re now in large number on trains, as was the case in today’s incident.”

 

Asked if the victim and perpetrator knew each other, Kemper said it was to be determined but for now, it’s looks like they didn’t. Asked how many cars had cameras, Lieber said over a thousand train cars already have cameras installed. “We’re completing that installation. It’s being done all this year so, you’re gonna have the full fleet completed. But in this case, it’s already starting to pay dividends, as it has in one other shooting case in the last six months.”

 

Regarding the use of cameras as a deterrent, Kemper said, “We’re very transparent about that. We want our riders to know that, the good  riders, and the riders that want to come into the system and commit crimes so we do advertise it. We’re not shy about it. Here we are again. This is probably the third time I’m talking about the cameras. I’ll say it again. The camera system in New York subways, in New York City subway system, is vast. It’s expansive. It’s incredibly valuable.”

Police officials also confirmed there was no audio on the available video captured aboard the train but Kemper said there are witnesses. “I’m not going to get into what the witnesses told us, but we do have eyewitnesses and ear witnesses.” Police also said there were other riders on the same car as the incident occurred and there were other riders on the cars adjoining.

 

Lieber later said, “We’re not going to tell New Yorkers don’t be concerned when there’s a shooting, but overall crime is down versus last year in the month of February and with the NYPD surge of personnel, we’re hopeful that’s going to stay there.”

 

Kemper added, “We recognize people’s concerns. Trust me. We do. It concerns us also. January was a very challenging month in the subway system. We ended January up 45% in crime versus the year before, and that 45% was driven in large part by grand larcenies. So credit of our mayor and our police commissioner. Listen, we always say public safety is our top priority. After the month of January, significantly more resources, cops, tremendous investment was made, just a couple weeks ago, upwards of over 1,000 additional cops assigned each day to the subway system.”

Following the recent Mt. Eden shooting on Monday, Feb. 12, Norwood News interviewed Charlton d’Sousa from Passengers United at the scene of the shooting. D’Sousa called for the resignation of Kemper, saying he was not happy with the response the chief gave to the media about the Mt. Eden shooting and alleging that he “tried to downplay” the incident.

 

“He [Kemper] said that shootings are very rare in the subway system,” d’Sousa said. “First of all, the year before, we had 11 murders. Now, about four weeks ago, three, four weeks ago, the first week of January, we had a shooting where a man was killed in Brooklyn. Now you have this incident where six people are shot, one person is dead, and this is a tragedy in our subway system.”

D’Sousa said he was angry and added that Kemper never met with Passengers United in all the years he’s been the chief of transit. “He has refused to talk to us. I was at a city council meeting, testifying before the city council and he refused to meet with us about 2-3 years ago,” he said.

 

He continued, “A lot of people feel that they [police] shouldn’t be policing the subway. So, let me explain to the public what’s really going on. Right now, the NYPD is understaffed, believe it or not. You have train operators getting assaulted, you have conductors getting assaulted. I personally have been assaulted three times, alcohol thrown in my eyes. I’ve been punched in the face. I’ve been spit at. I’ve been beaten with a stick. So this is the stuff that goes on.”

 

D’Sousa added, “So, we need police in the subway. We need a sense of security, but at the same time, you know, and what I’ve been telling Chief Kemper, you know, we’ve been pleading with the mayor, is that you shouldn’t have seven cops standing in one place. You need to, you know, split the cops up, and you need to have two cops per station patrolling.”

[In the experience of the Norwood News editor of riding subways in The Bronx, generally, cops are usually seen in pairs patrolling at various Bronx subway stations, not always, but when they are, usually there are no more than two seen together, unless there’s a specific crime like in the case of the human leg that was found near 167th Street station.]

 

D’Sousa continued, “They should be able to walk up and down the platform, eyeballing people when they get on. You have specially designed teams where they get on the subway trains to walk through the cars and eyeball people. Right now, we’re not seeing that. Many years ago, we had train order maintenance groups. They were called Toms, where police would go to a certain subway station, get on the train, walk through the cars, eyeball everyone, and you felt a sense of safety. Right now, the strategy that the city has is basically to respond to tragedies. There’s no proactive policing going on.”

 

Norwood News contacted the NYPD for comment on D’Sousa’s remarks after the Mt. Eden subway shooting. We did not receive an immediate response. On Friday, during the press conference following the latest fatal incident, Kemper said, “Look, we’ve taken these couple of tragic events, but take them aside, crime is down. Overall, crime is down in the month of February, so those investments are paying dividends. Look, our cops are out there; they’re visible. Our riders, I know, they see him. They’re riding trains, they’re on our platforms, they’re engaging in acts of lawlessness every single day.

Kemper continued, “Arrests are up year-to-date in the subway system, dramatically, 60% arrests are up, all areas of arrests. The chairman mentioned gun arrests. We have 16 gun arrests already this year versus six last year at the same time, and that’s coming off a year we were up. So, if anyone’s asking what the police department is doing, what are cops are doing, they’re out there. They’re very visible. They got a very, very challenging job. They’re hyper focused on providing public safety and they’re making arrests, and doing enforcement and engaging these unlawful acts at historic highs.”

 

He added, “So Jan. 1 to today, versus last year, January 1 to today, in the month of February, overall crime is down a little over 14% in February, and that’s from a 45% increase in January, and that just shows you the effect that cops can have. We went from a 45% increase to an immediate decrease just weeks later with our cops redeployed in large numbers in the system.”

 

D’Sousa had also told Norwood News after the Mt. Eden shooting, “I blame the elected officials as well for that because right now, you can push someone on the tracks, you can shoot someone, you can rob someone or you can beat up a police officer, and you’re out.”

He added, “Okay, it’s a sad tragedy, you know, and a lot of crimes are being committed in the subway: slashings, robberies, and it’s not being reported because many times people don’t realize that until they get home.”

 

Norwood News reached out to local city council members, Eric Dinowitz, Pierina Sanchez and Oswald Feliz, for comment on D’Sousa’s remarks. Dinowitz who represents District 11, responded, saying, “Public safety is absolutely a concern of the Council. However, while the apprehension surrounding the shooting in the 44th Precinct is more than valid, it seems that Charlton d’Sousa is referring to our bail laws, which are not under New York City Council’s jurisdiction. More importantly, bail reform does not address the root of the issue at hand, which is whether or not there are sufficient measures in place to accurately assess the severity of the crime and respond accordingly.”

 

Dinowitz added, “Current law takes considerable precautions to do so. We have a District Attorney who is responsible for representing the people’s safety and Judges who ensure that the person who committed the violence is no longer in a position to cause any more harm. Our laws ensure that the city’s judicial system has the legal support to actively carry out these measures in order to protect the city, and it is the Council’s utmost priority to give it the authority it requires.”

In response to another question on the latest transit homicide, Kemper said, “I’m doing this job a very long time. I have investigative experience. I cannot speak enough about the value of video surveillance, both as a deterrent and investigative value. When an incident like this is captured on video, it immediately gives us a story of what occurred, and who we’re looking for, and you talk about probative value for prosecutors as these cases progress. Like I said, there will be arrests in this case. Trust me on that, and then to have that video is very, very strong and probative prosecutorial.” Probative value refers to having the quality or function of proving or demonstrating something; affording proof or evidence.

 

Asked about a motive, Kemper said it appeared to be an isolated incident but it was to be determined. O’Sullivan said, “I will say, it’s unknown the motive. We do know that the victim wasn’t the primary aggressor in this case. I don’t want to get into what escalated, but it initially started with a verbal encounter, and then it escalated to a physical confrontation, and then this incident occurred. So we’re not 100% sure what the motive was. That’s come out in our investigation.”

 

Deputy Commissioner Public Information Tarik Sheppard concluded, saying, “We’re not going to tolerate this kind of violence in our subway system or anywhere in New York City. Those three individuals, you’ve seen your image on television, you’re going to hear about yourself on radio. You’re gonna hear yourself being spoken about all across the city. Turn yourself in, because we have the greatest detectives in the world looking for you, and you just don’t have a chance. So turn yourself in as soon as possible before we have to come and get you.”

 

To read our latest story on local subway riders’ reaction to the latest transit killing, click here.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

All calls are strictly confidential.