Fired NYC computer store worker busted in daylight shooting of former boss: sources

The fired machine repair shop worker who changeable his erstwhile boss successful a broad-daylight Upper West Side onslaught was busted Friday greeting – astir 24 hours aft he escaped done subway tunnels and moreover hid retired nether a train, rule enforcement sources said. 

Eduardo Diaz, 42, of Queens, was picked up connected a warrant and charged pinch attempted murder, battle and limb possession successful relationship to nan Thursday greeting shooting that wounded Boris Shapiro, 47, astatine West 69th Street and Columbus Avenue, nan sources said. 

“I heard,” Shapiro told The Post of Diaz’s apprehension erstwhile reached by telephone Friday astatine Mount Sinai Morningside, wherever he was recovering. “I consciousness great. I was tense that he’d travel backmost again.”

The 2 men worked together astatine nan adjacent Lincoln Business Machines Incorporated, sources said — and Diaz had been fired months earlier nan shooting, nan unfortunate told PIX 11 Thursday night.

“I’m stable. I should beryllium fine,” Shapiro told nan outlet. “[The gunman] sewage fired six months aliases a twelvemonth ago.”

Diaz showed up astatine his erstwhile workplace astir a artifact distant from nan segment soon earlier nan shooting, but near without hurting anyone, nan unfortunate told nan outlet. 

But Shapiro, fearing his ex-employee was tin of worse, followed nan menace up Columbus Avenue. 

“I wanted to telephone nan police,” he told nan network. “He came successful [the shop] pinch a weapon and I was acrophobic he would travel backmost and trap us, truthful I called 911. And that’s erstwhile he saw maine and ran aft me.”

That’s erstwhile nan irate gunman blasted Shapiro erstwhile successful nan enarthrosis and erstwhile successful nan limb retired connected nan thoroughfare astir 9:20 a.m., constabulary said.

The shooter past fled into nan 72nd Street train station, wherever he crept under an A train successful nan passageway – and someway managed to proceed his  flight bid, sources said. 

The runaway gunman wreaked havoc connected immoderate straphangers’ commutes – pinch galore forced to dishonesty connected nan subway level and past evacuate done nan subway tunnel. 

A female who lives supra nan machine shop said she watched arsenic tensions boiled complete betwixt nan shooter – who apparently worked remotely – and his employer. 

“They started arguing wrong nan shop and past correct retired here, yes, successful beforehand of nan store. And past each nan measurement down to nan corner,” she said. 

“He was moving remotely, doing immoderate work for nan machine company,” nan neighbour said. “There apparently was immoderate benignant of a problem complete money. I can’t retrieve precisely what he was screaming but it was thing astir money and thing astir being cheated aliases wronged … It was terrifying.

Birgilio Rojas, 56, who owns Traviata Pizza adjacent door, said he saw nan unfortunate regularly for “many, galore years.”

“Sometimes I request a transcript aliases thing made and he gives it to maine and he comes present for nan slices,” Rojas said. “[He’s] a bully guy, you know, he’s portion of nan neighborhood.”

Maya Shatsky, 25, who lives astir nan area from nan shooting scene, said she was getting fresh for activity erstwhile she heard nan shots ringing out.

Shatsky said she and her roommate – who some grew up connected nan “family-oriented Upper West Side” – are troubled by nan unexpected violence.

“We’re conscionable shocked,” she said. “Like thing for illustration that doesn’t conscionable hap extracurricular of our doorstop, possibly successful for illustration Times Square, location for illustration that. But not astatine 69th and Columbus astatine 9:30, 9 a.m.”

“We consciousness mostly very safe, still,” Shatsky acknowledged. “We emotion nan Upper West Side, and I don’t really cognize really that happened and what happened extracurricular there. We were conscionable shocked.”