A shooting on a subway train in downtown Brooklyn Thursday despatched New York City commuters fleeing for protection one week after the state’s governor despatched the National Guard to the subway gadget to assist weed out guns.
A 36-year-old guy was once shot more than one occasions, together with in the top, after a person whom he threatened with a gun took it and used it towards him, in line with the New York City Police Department. The capturing came about after a disagreement had spread out between the 2 males who police have no longer known on a hectic teach all through the Thursday night rush hour.
Videos shared on social media confirmed the bodily disagreement that preceded the capturing, in addition to its aftermath as some passengers at the subway huddled and shouted for police whilst others fled in a panic. One week prior, protection considerations in the subway precipitated Gov. Kathy Hochul to ship loads of National Guard individuals to patrol and seek passengers’ baggage for guns at busy teach stations to forestall violent crimes.
At a news convention after the capturing, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Janno Lieber bolstered that want for such measures with the phrases, “the subway is no place for guns.”
“The real victims are the people I saw on those videos who are having a harrowing time because they’re on a train with somebody with a gun,” Lieber instructed journalists on the news convention, video of which the NYPD shared on social media web page X. “They’re just trying to go about their lives.”
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Online video presentations older guy threatening different guy: ‘I will be able to beat you up’
The violent disagreement started round 4:45 p.m. when a 32-year-old guy boarded a teach headed for the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station and was once temporarily accosted via the 36-year-old, mentioned NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper on the news convention.
The older guy was once “described by multiple witnesses as being aggressive,” Kemper mentioned.
Footage posted to social media presentations the 36-year-old guy many times threatening the 32-year-old guy, pronouncing “I will be able to beat you up” until the younger man stands up and readies himself for a physical confrontation. Fellow passengers implore them to stop, and one woman can be heard saying “there are young children on right here” as the lads take swings at one some other and others transfer clear of them to the opposite finish of the teach.
Though the fight is eventually broken up by another male passenger, the confrontation doesn’t end. Police said the older man is suspected of first brandishing a knife or some sort of sharp object before pulling a gun from his jacket and approaching the 32-year-old.
The video does not show the shooting itself, but several loud bangs can be heard over the commotion of the passengers as the train rolls into the station and they rush out of the open doors.
ABC News journalist Joyce Philippe was once aboard the teach when it came about and captured video of the aftermath as dozens of different passengers huddled at the subway teach.
“Where’s the NYPD? Oh my god!” Philippe can be heard saying.
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Police officers at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station heard gunshots as the train arrived and responded within moments, Kemper said.
An investigation led police to conclude that the younger man was able to somehow wrestle away the gun from the older man 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 younger man was apprehended on the platform but has not been charged with a crime as police determine whether he acted in self-defense.
Kemper mentioned police don’t consider the lads knew every different previous to the disagreement.
In a Thursday night post on X, New York City Police Commissioner Edward A. Caban praised officers for their quick response to “a mindless disagreement.”
“While the instances surrounding this incident stay underneath investigation, what is de facto transparent is that the instant the doorways to that teach automobile opened on the subsequent station,” Caban said, “your NYPD officials have been there.”
New York mayor had deployed National Guard to search passengers
The shooting comes on the heels of Gov. Hochul’s move to ramp up security in the subway system following a series of high-profiles crimes.
Just this month, trains were delayed after a train conductor was slashed in the neck as he put his head out 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 left one man dead and five others wounded.
Following those recent incidents, the Democrat governor announced 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 for guns and other weapons.
As part of a larger plan from the governor’s office to crack down on subway crime, the measure is also among 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 conductor cabins to protect transit workers.
The plan is an effort to “rid our subways of people that dedicate crimes and offer protection to all New Yorkers whether or not you are a commuter or transit employee,” Hochul mentioned at a news conference last week.
Contributing: Thao Nguyen
Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]