A 15-year-old boy allegedly shot and seriously injured a 17-year-old boy on Friday afternoon after the two got off a Suffolk County Transit bus together near 105 Mastic Road in Mastic. The shooting unfolded shortly after the teens stepped off the bus, leaving one of them in the hospital and the other in handcuffs.
According to Daily Voice, the two teens were involved in an altercation before the 15-year-old shot the 17-year-old at 2:36 p.m. The younger teen then fled on foot but was arrested a short time later by Seventh Precinct officers, the outlet reported.
The 17-year-old was taken to a local hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, per the same account. As Newsday reported, Suffolk County police have not identified the alleged shooter because he is a minor.
Charges and Next Steps in Family Court
The 15-year-old was charged with first-degree reckless endangerment, first-degree assault and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, Daily Voice reported. He is scheduled to be arraigned at Suffolk County Family Court in Central Islip on Saturday, according to the same report.
Suffolk County Police's Seventh Squad is asking anyone with information about the shooting to contact investigators at 631-852-8752, per Newsday.
Part of a Troubling Countywide Pattern
The Mastic shooting lands amid a broader rise in gun violence across Suffolk County. The county recorded 23 shootings through July 2025, compared with 16 during the same period in 2024, a 44% increase, according to Newsday. Eight people in the county were killed by gunfire through July 2025, compared with one firearm-homicide victim in the same stretch of 2024, the outlet reported.
Teenagers have repeatedly been caught up in that surge. On June 19, 2025, a 16-year-old boy and a 25-year-old woman were shot near an apartment-complex pool during a fight between two groups, and a 15-year-old was arrested and charged, Newsday reported. A week later, two more teenagers were shot in separate incidents the same day in Central Islip and Patchogue, including an alleged shooting by a 14-year-old against a 17-year-old in Patchogue, according to the same report.
