15-year-old Uniondale High School student indicted on multiple charges in Long Beach train station shooting

A 15-year-old Uniondale High School student and reputed gang member was arraigned Thursday in Nassau County Court in Mineola after a grand jury indicted him on charges he sprayed the inside of a crowded Long Beach train station with bullets during a teen beach party two weeks ago.

The teen sat quietly in handcuffs at the defense table with his parents behind him in the gallery as Assistant District Attorney Katherine De Maria read the 11 counts.

He was charged with attempted second-degree murder, multiple counts of attempted assault, reckless endangerment and gun charges. He was remanded to authorities after his arraignment.

De Maria said the boy, who prosecutors said is believed to be a member of the Gorilla Stone Bloods gang, fired shots at a person he believed belonged to the Insane Crips Gang.

The teen chased his target into the Long Beach Long Island Rail Road station on June 13, where about 40 people from the beach party had sheltered from the previous shooting in which a partygoer had been wounded in the stomach, De Maria said. The Uniondale student is not charged in the previous shooting, prosecutors said.

“He sprayed eight or more shots at this individual,” De Maria said. “As people were fleeing the previous shooting, they were faced with a barrage of bullets. It was by the grace of God that there were not more victims.”

The teen was charged in family court on June 14, but a Nassau County grand jury indicted him Thursday when he was arraigned.

“My client absolutely denies being the individual involved in the shooting,” the teen's lawyer, Jason Russo, said after entering a not guilty plea.

“He showed up in family court with his parents,” Russo said, arguing against keeping the teen behind bars until his next court date. “The parents will have him in court each and every day.”

Russo said the teen was preparing to attend summer school when he was arrested.

The boy’s parents declined to comment after the hearing.

Russo said he would argue the case be returned to family court at the next appearance on July 11.

About 2,000 teens converged on the beach from high schools around the area and New York City, officials said, for a “senior cut day” celebration that had been advertised on social media.

“There were some disorderly groups within that group, some fights occurred,” Long Beach acting Police Commissioner Richard DePalma  said at a news conference the day after the shooting.

The Long Beach Police Department dispersed the crowd and called on the Nassau County Police Department and Metropolitan Transportation Authority police for assistance, according to DePalma.