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NYC straphanger shoots 'aggressive' rider in head after wrestling gun away from him during fight: cops
Tina Moore, Larry Celona, Joe Marino, Steven Vago
A fight on a packed Brooklyn train Thursday afternoon took a horrific turn when one straphanger wrestled a gun away from an apparent agitator and shot him in the head, police said.
The violence on a rush-hour northbound A train erupted when a 32-year-old man was confronted by an “aggressive” 36-year-old rider after boarding at the Nostrand Avenue subway station at 4:45 p.m., NYPD Chief Michael Kemper said at a press conference.
What started as a verbal argument quickly escalated as the 36-year-old man flashed what’s believed to be a knife or razor before pulling out a gun, Kemper said.
Straphangers huddled in fear after chaos broke out. @JoyceMeetsWorld/X
During the struggle, the 32-year-old managed to yank the gun away and he “fired multiple shots,” striking the other man in front of two dozen other commuters on the train car, according to Kemper.
Terrified straphangers ducked for cover in the moments after the shooting, according to video from ABC journalist Jordan Philippe, who was on the train when gunfire erupted.
Straphangers hoped the situation wouldn’t escalate, according to a journalist on the scene. @JoyceMeetsWorld/X-ABC
Passengers prayed and ducked for cover in the moments after the shooting. @JoyceMeetsWorld/X-ABC
“Where’s the NYPD, oh my God!” one woman exclaims in the clip.
“Close the door! Close the door!” others pleaded.
People were crying, praying, huddled amongst each other hoping that the situation would lead to someone being caught and not the worst-case scenario,” Phillipe, who was on another train car, told The Post.
The chaos ensued at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station. Peter Gerber
The subway then pulled into the A/C Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets station — which houses the NYPD’s 30th transit precinct — and officers with their guns drawn flooded the car, witnesses said.
“People were fearful not knowing if the danger was inside of the train…or out on the platform, but where we were on the train, there was nowhere to go. It was a very fearful moment,” recalled Phillipe.
The shooter was arrested before he even stepped onto the platform, Kemper said.
William C Lopez/New York Post
The 36-year-old man was rushed to Brooklyn Methodist Hospital in critical condition and is undergoing surgery.
Police believe the two men are total strangers.
It is not clear whether the shooter will face any charges, with police stating that the “victim appears to be the aggressor.”
“When you bring a gun on a train and you start a fight, it’s not right and it’s absolutely outrageous,” Kemper said.
A man was shot in the head on a Brooklyn subway platform, according to police sources. Peter Gerber
MTA Acting Chair and CEO Janno Lieber slammed the violence, saying the real victims of the incident were the other commuters.
“Get rid of the guns!” Lieber said. “When a gun’s involved, we can’t live with it.”
“When something like this happens. When you bring a gun on the train and you start a fight, it’s just not right. It’s absolutely outrageous … They’re just trying to go about their lives so get rid of the guns!”
The subway car at the station was “covered with blood and ballistics” when police arrived, a source said.
A small caliber firearm was recovered from the scene.
The violence comes just over a week after Gov. Kathy Hochul
announced she was sending hundreds of National Guard and state police troops into the subways to help with bag checks as a way to curb transit crime.
The shooting took place during the afternoon rush hour. Peter Gerber
No guardsmen were at the Brooklyn station when the rush-hour shooting broke out.
“I thought they were bringing in the National Guard and extra to stop these kinds of things from happening. If they can’t stop it, who can?” Zara Jones, 24, frustratingly asked after the mayhem.
“Why are shootings on the subway becoming a regular occurrence? There’s too many guns and too many people willing to use them indiscriminately. It makes me sick,” said Jones.
Another witness, Janelle, saw the man who was shot being rushed out the station on a gurney.
“He had so many tubes attached to him that I could barely see his face. He was bleeding pretty heavily,” she told The Post.
“It was a really scary situation. This is a major transit hub in a really busy area. How can someone in good conscience pull out a gun during rush hour when the trains are packed with people?”
Footage posted on social media by a neighborhood resident showed first responders rushing a person on a wheeled gurney down the street into the back of an ambulance.
“I live above the Hoyt/Schermerhorn street station, There was a shooting in the subway station that has a PRECINCT IN IT,” Owen Anderson tweeted.
He told the Mayor Eric Adams and Hochul to “step up or step out,” adding, “The safety of many should not be squandered by a few.”
From the beginning of the year through this Sunday, there have been eight shooting victims in the Big Apple transit system — up 700% from the same time period last year, according to police data.
At least three have been killed.
Police have made 17 gun arrests on the subways so far this year, compared to eight last year during the same time period — an 112.5% increase, the stats show.
Additional reporting by Katherine Donlevy, Nolan Hicks and Patrick Reilly
A fight aboard a packed Brooklyn train Thursday afternoon took a horrific turn when one straphanger wrestled a gun away from an apparent agitator and shot him in the head, police said.
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