NEW YORK (AP) — A person was shot a number of instances and critically wounded on a New York Metropolis subway prepare because it arrived at a busy station in downtown Brooklyn on Thursday, panicking night rush hour passengers.
The taking pictures got here per week after Gov. Kathy Hochul despatched the Nationwide Guard into the subway system to assist police search folks for weapons after a collection of high-profile crimes on metropolis trains.
Authorities mentioned Thursday’s taking pictures concerned two males who police haven’t recognized and who received right into a confrontation, after which a bodily struggle, aboard the transferring prepare simply earlier than 4:45 p.m.
One of many males, who police mentioned was 36, pulled out a gun and brandished it. The opposite man, 32, received possession of the handgun and fired on the particular person he was arguing with, in keeping with Michael Kemper, the Police Division’s chief of transit.
“The 32-year-old fired a number of photographs, putting the 36-year-old,” Kemper mentioned at a media briefing.
Witnesses informed police the person who was shot was being “aggressive and provocative” towards the opposite one earlier than the struggle broke out, Kemper mentioned.
The taking pictures occurred at a cease the place the NYPD has a small workplace, and officers had been on the platform and shortly took the suspect into custody.
Video posted on social media by an ABC Information journalist who was aboard the prepare when it occurred reveals passengers crouched on the ground as officers are heard shouting on the platform.
One other video posted by a passenger reveals the minutes main up the taking pictures. A person paces in regards to the crowded automotive and threatens to beat up a seated man. They struggle till somebody breaks it up. However the shouting continues, and one man pulls what seems to be a gun out of his jacket. “Cease! Cease!” passengers yell.
The video doesn’t present the precise taking pictures, although a number of loud bangs may be heard over the commotion of the passengers. Riders rush out when the doorways open.
“The true victims are the folks I noticed in these movies who had been having a harrowing time as a result of they’re on a prepare with anyone with a gun,” Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Janno Lieber mentioned at a information briefing.
Lieber mentioned it was “outrageous” that somebody would deliver a gun on a prepare and begin a struggle. He mentioned it confirmed the significance of present metropolis and state efforts to get weapons off the road.
Hochul deployed 750 members of the Nationwide Guard final week to help metropolis police with bag checks at entrances to busy prepare stations. The Democrat acknowledged that calling in uniformed service members was as a lot about sending a public message because it was about making mass transit safer.
Violence within the subway system is uncommon, with main crimes dropping practically 3% from 2022 to 2023 and killings falling from 10 to 5 throughout the identical span, in keeping with police.
However critical incidents have attracted consideration, resembling a passenger’s slashing of a subway conductor within the neck final month.
