Bump Gunman Charged with Shooting SUNY Football Player Malachi Capers

Caught on Video 

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A Queens man has been charged with shooting a college football player who bumped into him inside a local deli. The deadly shooting was caught on camera.

According to the charges, on July 27th, at around 4:30 p.m., the 20-year-old victim, Malachi Capers accidentally bumped into the defendant while inside a deli on the corner of Springfield Boulevard and 136th Avenue. The defendant then allegedly punched Capers. The victim, who was a defensive end at SUNY Buffalo, chased the defendant out of the store and tackled him on the sidewalk. 

Malachi Capers 

Video surveillance captured the fight as both men wrestled on the ground. As they regained their footing, defendant Thurston allegedly pulled out a handgun and fired a single shot into Capers’ abdomen, prosecutors said.

The defendant fled the scene but was apprehended two days later by the Regional Fugitive Task Force of the New York City Police Department. Capers is still being treated at an area hospital for life-threatening injuries. 

District Attorney Melinda Katz said, “This is another maddening example of the damage inflicted by easy access to illegal guns. The defendant allegedly used a handgun to escalate an incidental brush of shoulders to a near-deadly shooting of the victim in the abdomen. Months later, a young man is still in a hospital bed, struggling for his life. The defendant will be held accountable for his alleged actions.” 

In a separate incident, Thurston is also charged with burglary, criminal possession of a weapon and endangering the welfare of a child for allegedly breaking into an estranged girlfriend’s house, displaying a knife, and choking the woman’s 6-year-old son. This alleged incident occurred on March 13, 2020. Additionally, the defendant was indicted on an attempted assault charge for allegedly firing at an occupied vehicle on July 8, 2020. 

Thurston, 29, of 220th Street in Laurelton, Queens, was arraigned before Acting Queens Supreme Court Justice Stephanie Zaro on a 15-count indictment charging him with attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree, four-counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, burglary in the first and second degree, three counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, three counts of attempted assault in the first degree and endangering the welfare of a child. Justice Zaro set the defendant’s return date for October 13, 2020. If convicted, Thurston faces up to 25 years in prison. 

Criminal complaints and indictments are accusations. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.