Man charged with gun in subway station to stop robbery

A Queens man who fired two shots at a Manhattan subway station in an attempt to stop a homeless man from robbing a woman was charged Wednesday with weapons counts and other crimes, officials said.

The man, John Rote, was awaiting arraignment Wednesday evening on charges including criminal possession of a firearm, criminal possession of a weapon, reckless endangerment and menacing, officials said. It was not clear whether he had an attorney.

Mr. Rote, 43, was identified as the suspect in the shooting, which happened around 10 p.m. Tuesday at the 49th Street station in Midtown, based on security camera footage, officials said. A still image released by police before his arrest showed a muscular man in a T-shirt, shorts and running shoes, carrying a backpack and a tote bag.

According to an account by police and transit officials, Mr. Rote was nearby when the homeless man, Matthew Roesch, accosted the woman while holding an emergency exit near the turnstiles.

Mr. Roesch, 49, was described by police and public transit officials as a “swiper,” someone who — in one version of the fare evasion problem that continues to blight the system — keeps emergency gates open in the hope of receiving a small fee from those who walk through it.

Richard Davey, the president of New York City Transit, which operates the subway, said that in this case, Mr. Roesch began arguing with the woman and appeared to try to steal her bag.

At that point, Mr Davey said: “Another customer pulled out a gun and tried to intervene.”

Speaking at a press conference before Mr Rote was arrested, Mr Davey described the scene, as captured on security footage, as ‘unusual’ and ‘out of bounds’.

The shooter, Mr. Davey said, “looks very calm, pulls out a gun, fires two shots, puts the gun back in a bag and walks away.” He added: “That’s weird.”

Investigators were still trying to determine whether the gunman intended to strike Mr. Roesch, police Inspector Steven Hill said at the news conference.

No one was hit by the gunfire, Inspector Hill said. Mr. Roesch was charged with attempted theft, police said.

The episode was another example of how overrun with guns New York City has become, Davey said.

“What happens on the streets can end up in our subway,” he said. “We need to address the gun problem in the city.”