On the night of November 20, 2023, 25-year-old Joseph Valdez, a Hispanic man from Inwood, Manhattan, was shot and killed in Long Island City, Queens. The shooting occurred at about 10:00 p.m. in front of a Boost Mobile store on 21st Street after a verbal dispute with another man escalated and the other individual produced a firearm and fired multiple times.

Emergency medical services found Valdez with several gunshot wounds and he was taken to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The investigation led to an arrest in February 2024 when 36-year-old Yasser Saleh was taken into custody and charged with criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment; the case was then presented to a grand jury to determine formal homicide-related charges. The investigation remains ongoing.

If anyone witnessed the shooting or has information about what led to the dispute, contact the investigators handling the case.