NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – A student and former football player at SUNY Buffalo was shot and critically injured outside a Queens bodega this week—one of the latest shootings amid a spike in gun violence across the city.
Malachi Capers, 20, was shot outside the 136 Deli & Grill on Springfield Boulevard in Jamaica on Monday afternoon, according to police. Capers apparently bumped into the suspect, sparking the attack.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison tweeted surveillance video of the shooting Tuesday.
"As you can see in the video, the perpetrator, identified as Jeffrey Thurston, starts a verbal argument after the victim attempts to walk past him," Harrison wrote. "The argument then escalated into a physical confrontation when Thurston punches the victim in the face. Thurston then produces a pistol and shoots the victim once in the abdomen."
Capers, a defensive end for the SUNY Buffalo State Bengals in 2018, was critically injured in the shooting but is expected to survive, according to WKBW in Buffalo.
Buffalo State football coach Christian Ozolins said Capers “was a well-liked member of our football family during his freshman year in 2018 and has remained a friend to many in our program as he has continued his education at Buffalo State after leaving the team due to on-going injury issues.”
“We have him in our thoughts as we wish for a speedy and full recovery,” Ozolins said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.