A person was shot a number of occasions and critically wounded on a New York Metropolis subway practice 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 sent the National Guard into the subway system to assist police search individuals for weapons after a sequence of high-profile crimes on metropolis trains.
Authorities stated Thursday’s taking pictures concerned two males who police haven’t recognized and who acquired right into a confrontation, after which a bodily battle, aboard the shifting practice simply earlier than 4:45 p.m.
One of many males, who police stated was 36, pulled out a gun and brandished it. The opposite man, 32, acquired possession of the handgun and fired on the individual he was arguing with, in line with Michael Kemper, the Police Division’s chief of transit.
“The 32-year-old fired multiple shots, striking the 36-year-old,” Kemper stated at a media briefing.
Witnesses advised police the person who was shot was being “aggressive and provocative” towards the opposite one earlier than the battle broke out, Kemper stated.
The taking pictures occurred at a cease the place the NYPD has a small workplace, and officers have been on the platform and rapidly took the suspect into custody.
Video posted on social media by an ABC Information journalist who was aboard the practice when it occurred confirmed passengers crouched on the ground as officers may very well be heard shouting on the platform.
“The real victims are the people I saw in those videos who were having a harrowing time because they’re on a train with somebody with a gun,” Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Janno Lieber stated at a information briefing.
Lieber stated it was “outrageous” that somebody would carry a gun on a practice and begin a battle. He stated 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 practice 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 line with police.
However severe incidents have attracted consideration, akin to a passenger’s slashing of a subway conductor within the neck final month.
