No charges are being filed against the 32-year-old man who fired a gun on
a New York City subway, critically injuring one person, prosecutors said,
citing "self-defense."

"Yesterday's shooting inside a crowded subway car was shocking and deeply
upsetting," Oren Yaniv, a spokesperson for the Brooklyn District
Attorney's Office, said in a statement Friday. "The investigation into
this tragic incident is ongoing but, at this stage, evidence of self-
defense precludes us from filing any criminal charges against the
shooter."

The 36-year-old shooting victim was armed with a knife and gun and acting
as the aggressor when he entered the northbound A train in Brooklyn around
4:45 p.m., according to law enforcement sources.

The 36-year-old later got into a dispute with the 32-year-old subway rider
and pulled a gun out, police said. He was disarmed by the 32-year-old and
shot with his own gun, according to police.

The incident began when the 32-year-old got into a verbal and then
physical dispute with the shooting victim, possibly over a subway seat,
police said. A woman who was with the 32-year-old stabbed the 36-year-old
in the back, cellphone video from a fellow rider revealed, according to
authorities.

After he was stabbed, the 36-year-old man asked, "Did you stab me?" before
pulling a gun from his jacket and asking again, "You stabbed me, right?"
according to police.

The physical altercation continued, with the 32-year-old man then grabbing
the gun from the 36-year-old, police said.

Shots were fired as the train was pulling into the Hoyt-Schermerhorn
station, NYPD Transit Chief Michael Kemper said.

Terrified commuters who were on the train and the station platform ducked
for cover during the shooting.

No one else was injured, police said.

"There were multiple police officers in this station just feet away from
when the train pulled in, who heard the shots and moved in right way,"
Kemper said.

The 36-year-old is in critical but stable condition, Kemper said. He was
shot four times -- once in the neck, once in the chest and twice in the
right side of the face -- and has two stab wounds to the back, according
to law enforcement sources.

The 36-year-old has 10 prior arrests, according to law enforcement
sources.

Ten to 15 minutes before the shooting, the 36-year-old entered the
Nostrand Avenue subway without paying his fare and got onto the A train,
NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said Friday.

He was in possession of both a knife and a .380-caliber Ruger before the
shooting, according to law enforcement sources.

Maddrey stressed that enforcing fare evasion could result in stopping an
armed man.

https://i.abcnewsfe.com/a/e11d8f0f-8484-477b-b79d-5f3a121f1681/subway-
shooting-suspect-ht-jt-240315_1710519357710_hpEmbed_11x7.jpg

The NYPD released video showing who they say is the armed 36-year-old man
entering the subway without paying at the Nostrand Ave. station, on March
14, 2024. Officials say he was shot with his own gun and is in critical
condition.
NYPD

The unidentified woman accused in the stabbing, who is a friend of the
shooting suspect, is being sought for questioning for a potential assault
charge, according to law enforcement sources.

"This is a very active case," Kemper said. "If anyone has any information,
whether you were on the train, in the station or heard something, please
call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS."

The shooting comes one week after Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul
announced that New York National Guard troops and New York State Police
troopers would be assisting city officers in protecting the subways.

A NYPD police transit bureau operates inside the Hoyt-Schermerhorn
station.

MTA Chairman Janno Lieber decried the violence and reiterated his call for
more gun control.

"The real victims are the people I saw in those videos," he told
reporters. "They are just trying to go about with their lives. Just get
rid of the guns."

On Friday, Hochul convened the first meeting of an interagency subway and
transit safety task force, comprised of members from state and city
police, district attorney offices and other offices.

She cited Thursday's shooting as another example of the need for an
increased effort from all stakeholders to keep the subways safe.

"The only way to solve the recent spike in subway crime is to collaborate
across all levels of government. Working together with Mayor Adams,
police, prosecutors and transit officials, we'll make sure every New
Yorker is protected," she said in a statement.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/1-shot-new-york-city-subway-scuffle-
man/story?id=108134540