4 wounded at Brooklyn train station when officers shoot man wielding knife
NEW YORK — Four people were wounded Sunday at a Brooklyn train station when police officers shot a man who threatened them with a knife, authorities said. The people hit by police violence included the man with the knife, one of the officers and two innocent bystanders.
The bloody confrontation began when two officers confronted a man who entered the station without paying, officials said.
One of the bystanders, a 49-year-old man, was hospitalized in critical condition. The man suspected of evading his ride, 37, was shot multiple times but was in stable condition. A 26-year-old woman suffered a graze wound.
The wounded police officer was shot in the torso, under his armpit, and in his back. He was expected to recover.
Interim Police Chief Thomas Donlan, in only his third day on the job since his appointment last weekpromised a thorough investigation into the shooting.
“But right now we’re thankful that our officer is doing well,” he told reporters.
The shooting happened just after 3 p.m., when two officers followed a man up the station stairs to a raised platform. They saw him enter without paying, said Chief Jeffrey Maddrey.
The officers told the man to stop, but he refused, muttering, “I’m going to kill you if you don’t stop following me,” Maddrey said. During the confrontation, officers noticed the man had a knife, Maddrey said.
They followed him to a train pulling into the station and fired two Tasers, but neither could incapacitate the man, Maddrey said.
Maddrey said the man came toward the officers when the knife was drawn as both officers fired multiple shots. Both officers then administered first aid to the man before one of them realized he had been hit by a bullet.
“While they are dealing with the male, they notice that there are other people who have also been hit by fire and gunfire,” Maddrey said.
Mayor Eric Adams visited the injured officer in the hospital on Sunday ahead of a news conference about the shooting.
The Democrat described the man who dodged the subway as a “career criminal” and said he had more than 20 arrests. Maddrey said the man had a history of mental illness.
Video footage of the shooting was not immediately released Sunday. The NYPD did release a cropped image of the man holding the knife, a blade about the width of the person’s palm.
“I’m especially concerned about bystanders, people who are just trying to get to their destination, who have been victims of this situation,” said Janno Lieber of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The subway station serves the L line in the Brownsville neighborhood. Lieber said there are cameras on the train, on the platform and at the entrance.
In 2019, NYPD officers accidentally shot and killed two colleagues while confronting crime suspects in case of individual incidents during the service.