Gunman Eduardo Diaz keeps head down as he’s perp-walked from 20th Precinct on Nov. 8, 2024. (
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One of the most unusual shooting incidents in recent Upper West Side memory reached its judicial conclusion with the sentencing of Eduardo Diaz, 44 to 15 years in state prison for attempted assault in the broad daylight shooting of his former boss in November 2024. Diaz pleaded guilty to this charge in October 2025—a notable downgrade from the original indictment against the gunman, where the top charge was Attempted Murder.
“Eduardo Diaz has been held accountable for committing a vicious shooting against his former boss which recklessly spilled onto a public city street,” said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. “This attack significantly injured the victim who is still recovering to this day. Combatting gun violence is our top priority, and we will not tolerate the use of firearms to harm fellow New Yorkers.”
According to court documents and statements made on the record in court, Diaz was terminated from his job and threatened his former boss through a text message several months prior to the shooting.
On November 7, 2024, at approximately 9:15 a.m., Diaz went to his former workplace, Lincoln Business Machines Inc. at 111 W. 68th St. near Columbus Avenue. Despite its old fashioned sounding name, this company sells “managed IT solutions,” not scales or cash registers.
Diaz then approached and confronted his former boss, the then 47-year-old Boris Shapiro. Diaz took out a firearm and attempted to shoot the victim, but the gun jammed. A few minutes later, the confrontation continued outside onto the street, near West 69th Street and Columbus Avenue.
As admitted in the defendant’s guilty plea, Diaz fired multiple shots at the victim, striking him in the ankle, hip and shoulder and causing him to fall to the ground. Diaz continued to shoot at the victim while he was lying on the ground. The victim was eventually transported to Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital and was held over several days for treatment.
Also damaged was the glass bus shelter in front Blank Street Coffee at 190 Columbus Avenue, a victim of Diaz’s errant gunfire.
Diaz fled the scene into the 72nd Street subway station, near Central Park West, where he escaped through the tunnels. This method of escape—which strongly suggests Diaz had some experience with subway tunnel exploration—resulted in startling videos as trains were stopped so that cops could search for the suspected shooter.
Diaz was arrested on November 8, 2024, at a home in Queens. Officers executed a court-authorized search warrant of the home and recovered a firearm, ammunition and clothing Diaz was seen wearing during the shooting.
“I heard,” Boris Shapiro told the New York Post when asked about Diaz’s arrest. “I feel great. I was nervous that he’d come back again.”