Frightening confrontation led to shooting at Brooklyn Subway, videos show

A 36-year-old man was in critical but stable condition Friday morning after he was shot in the head aboard a northbound A train as it pulled into the Hoyt-Schermerhorn subway station in downtown Brooklyn during Thursday evening’s evening rush hour, according to reports the authorities. .

The shooting was the culmination of a terrifying confrontation on a crowded subway train in which an armed man who had threatened another passenger was ultimately shot with his own gun, police said.

The two men did not know each other, police say, and it is not clear how their confrontation began. But the video of the episode, which captures the moments leading up to the shooting, shows the eventual shooting victim, identified by authorities as a 36-year-old man, shouting threats and racial slurs at the other man, 32.

Officials have not released the names of either man. A search was also underway Friday morning for a woman who appeared to have stabbed the older man.

In the video, the 36-year-old man stands over the 32-year-old, walks back and forth in front of him and repeatedly threatens him, saying, “I will beat you up.” Eventually the 32 year old man gets up and they face each other to fight.

The older man wrestles the younger man into a chair, stands over him and punches him. At that moment, a woman rushes forward and appears to stab the older man in the lower back. It is not clear whether the woman knew the younger man before the encounter.

The older man, with blood seeping through his white T-shirt, pulls a gun from his jacket and confronts both the younger man and woman, who head to the end of the subway.

As other panicked drivers run to the other side of the car, the video cuts away from the melee. Gunshots and screams can be heard.

At a news conference Thursday evening, Michael Kemper, the chief of the police department’s transit division, said the younger man ripped the older man’s gun and shot him four times. The younger man was taken into custody but has not yet been arrested.

Chief Kemper said Thursday that authorities had not yet decided whether to charge the 32-year-old or whether his actions would be considered self-defense. As of Friday morning, the man had still not been charged.

A spokesperson for the Brooklyn district attorney’s office said Friday that prosecutors are reviewing the evidence.

In an interview with NY1 on Friday morning, Janno Lieber, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that manages public transportation, called the episode “harrowing.”

“If you’re in that situation, in a subway car and something bad is going on and you’re running for your own safety, that’s just the nightmare for all of us at the MTA,” he said. “That’s a nightmare for New Yorkers.”

The shooting at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station, which is served by the A, C and G trains, occurred a week after Gov. Kathy Hochul deployed hundreds of National Guard members and state troopers to check bags on the subway system. attempt to deter crime and allay riders’ fears. The altercation also came amid growing complaints that the MTA has not done enough to ensure worker safety.

A series of violent episodes in recent years has left some participants in the system on edge.

In 2022, Michelle Alyssa Go was on a subway platform in Times Square when a 61-year-old man pushed her from behind, pushing her to her death in front of a southbound train. Months later, there was a mass shooting on the R train in Brooklyn. More recently, a 45-year-old crossing guard was fatally shot on a Brooklyn train in January after intervening in a fight, and a 35-year-old man was killed and five other people were injured after a fight broke out among teenagers. on a train in the Bronx last month.

In response, officials introduced several anti-crime initiatives in the metros, including adding more police officers and increasing overtime for them, and began removing seriously mentally ill homeless people from the system.

MTA surveys consistently show that some riders view the subway as dangerous, even if the data doesn’t necessarily support that view.

On a post on X Thursday eveningNew York City public advocate Jumaane Williams said he had seen videos of the “terrifying moments” for straphangers and implored Governor Hochul to do more about subway safety.

Chief Kemper said officers at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station, where a police station is located, heard gunshots when the train arrived there Thursday and responded immediately.

Another video posted on X, appears to show the moments when officers respond and find the younger man on his stomach on the stairs near the open subway. As he is led away from the scene in handcuffs, the 36-year-old man can be seen lying on his back through the windows of the subway and appearing to move his head ever so slightly as officers begin to tend to him.

Moments later, the 36-year-old lies on his side and looks at the window, the red mark visible on his back, as officers in white gloves examine him.