Bullets flew at a Brooklyn subway station on Thursday afternoon, leaving a man gravely wounded, police reported.
Law enforcement sources said the shooting occurred on board a Manhattan-bound A train at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn Streets station in Downtown Brooklyn at about 4:45 p.m. on March 14.
Police believe the violence stemmed from a dispute between the victim, a 36-year-old man, and the suspected shooter, a 32-year-old, who became embroiled in a physical argument while riding the A train from Nostrand Avenue to Hoyt-Schermerhorn Streets.
It led the victim to pull out a firearm and, according to Chief of Transit Michael Kemper, eventually ended with the shooter gaining control of a weapon and then opening fire while numerous passengers rode along in shock and fear.
Numerous police officers were on the platform at the Hoyt-Schemerhorn Streets station when the train arrived, and Kemper said they heard shots fired on board. They moved in quickly to stop the shooter, who is now undergoing questioning with charges pending.
EMS rushed the victim, age unknown, to NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where he is listed in very critical condition with life-threatening injuries.
Police are still questioning witnesses and going through numerous videos at the station and on board the train — including videos of the shooting taken by passengers on board.
An incensed MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber, during a press conference outside the Hoyt-Schermerhorn Streets station Thursday night, railed against the incident, and expressed sympathy for straphangers who experienced the traumatic ride.
“When you bring a gun on the train and you start a fight, it is just not right and it’s absolutely outrageous,” Lieber said. “The victim here, as the chief said, appears to be the aggressor — but the real victims are the ones I saw on those videos who were going through a harrowing time because they were on the train with someone with a gun. They’re afraid for their lives.”
The shooting occurs at a time in which subway crime is under the public microscope. Both the NYPD, the MTA Police and National Guard have surged in upwards of 2,000 combined members underground daily to help stop and deter crime in the wake of three deadly shootings in the system earlier this year.
After a January spike, transit crime fell in February. Most of the more serious offenses underground involve property crimes such as robberies and grand larcenies.
In the wake of Thursday’s shooting, Lieber said the event demonstrated the need for police “omnipresence” in the system to quickly catch criminals and keep the system safe.
“Thank God for omnipresence, thank God there were officers on the platform who were inspecting, and that they made the arrest,” Lieber said. “This system is going to make us safer, but today, we have to think about all those who were impacted by this.”
Timeline of events
Kemper went through the timeline of the chaos, which began with the 32-year-old male shooter boarding the Manhattan-bound A express train at the Nostrand Avenue stop at about 4:45 p.m. Thursday afternoon, in the middle of the evening rush hour.
Moments after the train began moving, Kemper said, the 36-year-old male victim confronted the shooter and began exchanging words with him. The chief noted that passengers described the 36-year-old man as being aggressive and provocative” toward the 32-year-old man.
The words then escalated into a physical struggle, Kemper reported, when the 36-year-old pulled out a sharp object and brandished it at the 32-year-old man, before ultimately putting the weapon down. Things settled briefly, the chief said, before the 36-year-old man again moved to confront the 32-year-old man — this time pulling out a firearm from his jacket and approaching him in a menacing way.
That led to a second physical confrontation as the A train neared the Hoyt-Schermerhorn Streets station.
“During this physical confrontation, that gun, we believe, was removed from the 36-year-old by the 32-year-old,” Kemper said, “and the 32-year-old fired multiple shots, striking the 36-year-old.”
The shooting happened just as the train pulled into the station, where multiple officers were stationed on the Manhattan-bound platform, Kemper said. The 32-year-old raced out the door, but was apprehended by waiting officers before he could make it off the platform, according to Lieber.
Other officers came to the 36-year-old man’s aid, providing immediate medical attention before EMS arrived — and began questioning passengers while establishing a crime scene.
During the investigation, police recovered the firearm used in the incident — believed to be a small caliber and possibly semi-automatic, according to Kemper.
As for the 32-year-old suspect, Kemper noted that detectives have yet to charge him, and are consulting with members of the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office as part of the ongoing investigation.
The MTA, meanwhile, reports severe disruptions on the A train amidst the evening rush as a result of the ongoing police investigation.
As of 5:30 p.m., New York City Transit reported on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) all Manhattan-bound A train service was suspended between Broadway Junction and Jay Street-MetroTech. C train service was fully suspended, and all G trains were skipping the Hoyt-Schermerhorn Streets station. Service was restored, with delays, just after 7 p.m. Thursday.
This story was updated on March 14 at 7:45 p.m.
