NYPD arrests 3 in fatal Bronx subway shooting

Police have arrested three people in connection with a fatal subway shooting in the Bronx last Friday, NYPD officials said Monday.

Justin Herde, 24, Alfredo Trinidad, 42, and Betty Cotto, 38, were taken into custody on Monday morning for their alleged roles in the killing of 45-year-old William Alvarez. Police said Alvarez was riding a southbound D train just before 5 a.m. on Friday when he was shot in the chest.

Charges and attorney information for the suspects were not yet available as of early Monday afternoon. Alvarez’s death marked the city's third fatal subway shooting so far this year, putting 2024 on track to surpass the five subway homicides recorded in 2023.

Police said the incident started when the group sat beside Alvarez and started an argument. A “three-on-one” fight soon erupted at the 182nd-183rd Streets station, NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper said on Friday. The dispute, which was caught on subway surveillance cameras, appeared to be random, according to NYPD officials.

Erica Estremere, Alvarez’s girlfriend of 19 years, told Gothamist on Monday that she didn’t think riding the subway was safe anymore after Alvarez was killed.

“You mind your business and you get on the train thinking you'll be back home, and you don't even know if you might be back home,” she said through tears. “My family is devastated because he left behind two kids, 27 and 21, and just to know that they no longer will see their father is just devastating.”

MTA Chair Janno Lieber underscored the importance of having cameras in the subway system at MTA board proceedings on Monday.

“The cameras upstairs, and even cameras at street level, gave the investigators an incredible source of information to use in their investigation which has led to a very rapid series of apprehensions," he said.

Police were still searching for the man suspected of shooting and killing crossing guard Richie Henderson, 45, aboard a 3 train in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, in January. Henderson was trying to break up a fight over loud music when he was killed, according to the NYPD.

On Friday, department officials declined to take questions about the status of investigations into that killing and another subway killing in the Bronx on Feb. 12. That shooting happened just a mile south of last week’s incident.

Stephen Nessen contributed reporting. This is a developing story and may be updated.