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After a subway shooting in downtown Brooklyn sent New York City commuters fleeing for safety, prosecutors said no charges have been filed against the gunman, citing evidence he was trying to protect himself. .
“Yesterday’s shooting inside a crowded subway car was shocking and deeply disturbing,” said Oren Yaniv, spokesman for the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office. “The investigation into this tragic incident is ongoing but, at this stage, evidence of self-defence prevents us from bringing criminal charges against the shooter.”
A 36-year-old man was shot several times, including in the head, after a man he threatened with a gun grabbed it and used it against him, according to police. New York City Police Department. The shooting occurred after a confrontation developed between the two men police have not identified on a busy train during the Thursday afternoon rush hour.
Videos shared on social media showed the physical confrontation that preceded the shooting, as well as its aftermath, as some passengers on the subway crowded together and shouted for the police, while others fled in panic. A week earlier, concerns about subway safety led Gov. Kathy Hochul to send hundreds of National Guard members to patrol and search passengers’ bags for weapons at busy train stations to prevent violent crime. .
At a news conference after the shooting, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Janno Lieber reinforced the need for such measures with the words: “The subway is no place for guns.”
“The real victims are the people that I saw in those videos who are having a distressing time because they’re on a train with someone with a gun,” Lieber told reporters at the news conference, video of which the NYPD shared on social media site X. “They’re just trying to get on with their lives.”
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An online video shows an older man threatening another: “I will beat you up”
The violent confrontation began around 4:45 p.m. when a 32-year-old man boarded a train heading to the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station and was quickly tackled by the 36-year-old man, the New York police traffic chief said. York, Michael Kemper, at the press conference. .
The older man was “described by multiple witnesses as aggressive,” Kemper said.
Images published on social networks. shows the 36-year-old man repeatedly threatening the 32-year-old man, telling him “I will beat you up” until the younger man gets up and prepares for a physical confrontation. The other passengers implore them to stop, and a woman can be heard saying “there are babies here” as the men swing at each other and others walk away from them toward the other end of the train.
Although the fight is eventually broken up by another male passenger, the confrontation does not end. Police said the older man is suspected of first brandishing a knife or some type of sharp object before pulling a gun from his jacket and approaching the 32-year-old man. Footage also showed a woman appearing to cut the 36-year-old man in the back with a sharp object as she attacked the 32-year-old man.
The video does not show the shooting itself, but several loud bangs can be heard above the commotion of passengers as the train enters the station and they run out through the open doors.
ABC News journalist Joyce Philippe was on board the train when it happened and captured video of the consequences while dozens of other passengers crowded into the subway train.
“Where is the NYPD? Oh my God!” Philippe is heard saying.
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Police officers at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station heard gunshots when the train arrived and responded within moments, Kemper said.
An investigation led police to conclude that the younger man was able to somehow grab the older man’s gun and use it to shoot him multiple times.
The older man who was shot was transported to a nearby hospital for medical treatment and was in critical condition, Kemper said. The young man was detained on the platform but has not been charged with any crime.
Kemper said police do not believe the men knew each other before the confrontation.
In a Thursday night post on X, New York City Police Commissioner Edward A. Caban praised officers for their quick response to “a senseless confrontation.”
“While the circumstances surrounding this incident remain under investigation, what is absolutely clear is that at the moment the doors of that train car opened at the next station,” Caban said, “your New York police officers York were there.”
The mayor of New York had deployed the National Guard to search for the passengers
The shooting comes immediately after Governor Hochul’s decision to Increase security in the subway system. after a series of high-profile crimes.
This month, trains were delayed after a train driver was slashed in the neck while sticking his head out of a window to make sure the track was clear. And in February, a shooting that broke out on an elevated train platform In the Bronx it left one man dead and five others injured.
Following those recent incidents, the Democratic governor announced on March 6 her decision to deploy 750 members of the National Guard and 250 state troopers and transit officers to help the New York Police Department check bags at subway entrances. looking for guns and other weapons.
As part of a broader plan by the governor’s office to crack down on subway crime, the measure is also part of a legislative proposal to ban people from trains for three years if they are convicted of assaulting a subway passenger. Cameras were also installed in drivers’ cabs to protect traffic workers.
The plan is an effort to “rid our subways of people who commit crimes and protect all New Yorkers, whether commuters or transit workers,” Hochul said at a news conference. press conference last week.
Contributing: Minnah Arshad and Thao Nguyen
Eric Lagatta covers the latest news and trends for USA TODAY. Contact him at elagatta@gannett.com.
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