Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Melvin Adams was sentenced today to 20 years in prison for opening fire on a busy thoroughfare intending to hit a stranger and instead shooting at an MTA bus and striking two passengers.

District Attorney Katz said: “A dangerous man is now off our streets and will serve a long prison sentence for his reckless and illegal conduct.”

Adams, 45, of Barnes Avenue, in the Bronx, was convicted by a jury in March of attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first and second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second and third degree and reckless endangerment in the first degree. Queens Supreme Court Justice Gary Miret sentenced the defendant to 20 years in prison.

According to the charges:

• On August 5, 2021, at approximately 8:55 a.m., Adams walked past a 25-year-old man whom he did not know on Jamaica Avenue near 148^th Believing that the pedestrian had looked at him, Adams approached the man, pulled out an illegal .40 caliber pistol from his backpack and fired three shots at his back. Adams missed his intended target, instead shooting through the windshield of an MTA Q8 bus that was stopped nearby.
• A bullet pierced the bus windshield, grazing a 66-year-old passenger, causing him physical injuries. A second passenger on the bus, a 20-year-old man, was struck by the same bullet in his arm, shattering his humerus bone, causing excruciating pain and serious physical injury.
• Both victims were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. The 66-year-old sustained a laceration to his shoulder and shards of glass were removed from his body. The 20-year-old required reconstructive orthopedic surgery to remove bullet fragments and repair his arm with a 10-inch metal plate and screws.
• A police officer witnessed the shooting and reported the incident. Adams was arrested a block from the scene within minutes of the shooting in possession of a backpack containing the .40 caliber Smith & Wesson handgun used in the shooting. The handgun was loaded with one round in the chamber and 11 rounds of ammunition in an unlawful high-capacity magazine. A second illegal high-capacity magazine with an additional 15 rounds of ammunition was also recovered from the backpack.

Assistant District Attorney Jeremy H. Mo, of the District Attorney’s Major Economic Crimes Bureau, prosecuted the case, with the assistance of Assistant District Attorney Catherine Kane, Senior Deputy Bureau Chief, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Mary Lowenburg, Bureau Chief,  and under overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Gerard A. Brave.  The case was investigated by ADA Mo, under the supervision of Karen Rankin, Bureau Chief, Timothy Regan and Robert Ferino, Deputy Bureau Chiefs, under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Trials Pishoy B. Yacoub.