The paranoid ex-con who fatally shot his girlfriend's teenage son, then killed one person and injured another on a Q111 NYC Transit bus in Queens was allegedly hoping for a bloodbath. Damel Burton, 34, told cops the bus shooting occurred because he believed the commuters were plotting against him. And prosecutors say he had been planning to shoot even more people: "The defendant stated that he would have shot more people but the gun jammed," prosecutor Suzanne O'Hare said at Burton's arraignment, according to the News.
After his arrest Friday, Burton confessed to police that "he decided that today was going to be the last day that he was going to feel threatened," according to court papers. Burton, who was released on parole in August 2010 after serving seven years for attempted robbery, told cops he'd imagined for months he was being followed by people seeking revenge for robberies he had committed. Burton was captured carrying a 9-mm. Ruger pistol with four rounds in it, and was also carrying another nine rounds.
Police say the spree began when Burton 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. "I didn't know he had a gun," said Tucker, who wasn't home during the incident. "It was out of the blue. I don't know where he came up with doing this." Burton told police that Murrell had stabbed him last January.
After shooting Murrell, Burton then got on the Q111 NYC Transit bus less than 15 minutes later, 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.
Lipsey, a state-employed counselor for developmentally disabled patients, survived the shooting, which hit his mouth. Burton has been charged with two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, gun possession and assault, and faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted. Tysheen Murrell, Keith Murrell's 16-year-old brother, doesn't understand what happened to Burton: "He was kind to me. He treated me right."
