Man shot with his own gun, critically wounded after fight aboard New York City subway, police say
NEW YORK — A man was shot multiple times and seriously injured on a New York City subway train as it arrived at a busy station in downtown Brooklyn on Thursday, sending passengers into panic during the evening rush hour.
The shooting occurred a week after Gov. Kathy Hochul sent the National Guard into the subway system to help police search people for weapons after a series of high-profile crimes on city trains.
Authorities said Thursday’s shooting involved two men who were involved in a confrontation and then a physical fight aboard a moving train just before 4:45 p.m.
One of the men, who police say was 36 years old, pulled out a gun and waved it. The other man, 32 years old, got his hands on the gun and shot the person he was arguing with, Transit Police Chief Michael Kemper said.
The shooting took place at a stop in downtown Brooklyn, where the NYPD has a small office. Police officers stood on the platform and quickly took the gunman into custody.
The injured man was in critical condition. Neither man was identified.
A video posted to social media by an ABC News journalist who was aboard the train when it happened showed passengers crouching on the ground as officers could be seen shouting on the platform.
βThe real victims are the people I saw in those videos who had a harrowing time because they were on the train with someone with a gun,β Janno Lieber, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said at a news conference.
Witnesses told police that the 36-year-old man, who was seriously injured, was acting aggressively aboard the train before the fight broke out, Kemper said.