Police are investigating a shooting at a Queens subway station on Monday afternoon that left a man dead.
According to the NYPD, at 4:30 p.m. on April 25 officers responded to a call regarding a man shot at the Jamaica Center-Parsons/Archer station. Upon their arrival, officers found 24-year-old Marcus Bethea in the mezzanine level with a gunshot wound to his chest.
Bethea was taken to Jamaica Hospital where he was pronounced dead just after 5 p.m.
During an evening press conference taking place at the scene of the crime, NYPD Transit Chief Jason Wilcox revealed that the incident began with a verbal argument near the MTA booth that escalated into a brawl.
“The suspect approached him and engaged him [Bethea] in a verbal dispute that quickly turned physical. During the course of that fight, the suspect pulled out a firearm and fired several rounds, which struck the victim in his torso,” Chief Wilcox said.
Wilcox confirmed that five shots were fired during the conflict and the NYPD are utilizing surveillance cameras to aid with the circumstances surrounding the incident.
While crime inside the city’s subway system has been on the minds of New Yorkers for months — and especially after the mass shooting at the 36th Street subway station in Brooklyn on April 12 — Wilcox strove to ensure the public that these incidents are rare.
“In terms of shootings in the transit system, they are infrequent and rare, including shots fired. There have been a couple of incidents this year, which are being investigated, but gunshots in the transit system is a very rare scenario,” Wilcox said.
NYPD officials likewise declared that they are making strides to increase visibility underground.
“But there’s a host of things that we’re doing in the transit system that I mentioned some of them earlier this morning at the MTA board meeting. One of them is enhanced presence and visibility. Another one is uniform train patrols, effective enforcement, greater attention to quality of life. These are things that we’re doing,” Wilcox said.
No arrests have been made at this time and the investigation is ongoing.
