Four people were wounded at a Brooklyn subway station Sunday when police officers fired at a man threatening them with a knife, authorities said. The victims struck by police gunfire included the man with the blade, one of the cops and two innocent bystanders.
The deadly incident began when two cops challenged a guy who entered the station without paying his fee, authorities said.
One of the onlookers, a 49-year-old guy, was hospitalized in critical condition. The man accused of avoiding his fare, 37, was shot many times but was in stable condition. A 26-year-old lady sustained a graze wound.
The wounded police officer had a bullet penetrate his body under his armpit and lodge in his back but was also expected to recover.
Interim Police Commissioner Thomas Donlan, in only his third day on the job after being appointed last week, vowed a thorough probe into the shooting.
“But right now, we are grateful that our officer will be OK,” he told reporters.
The incident happened a little after 3 p.m. when two police chased a guy up the station steps to an elevated platform after seeing him enter without paying, Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said.
The cops begged the guy to stop, but he refused, mumbling, “I’m going to kill you if you don’t stop following me,” Maddrey said. In the course of the interaction, the cops saw the individual had a knife, Maddrey added.
They followed him on to a train that had pulled into the station and fired two Tasers, but neither disabled the guy, Maddrey said.
Maddrey said the suspect was coming on the cops with the knife drawn when both officers fired numerous shots. Both cops then offered first assistance to the man before one of them noticed that he, too, had been injured by a gunshot.
“While they’re working on the male, they become aware that other people are hit by fire, by gunfire as well,” Maddrey added.
Mayor Eric Adams visited the wounded officer in the hospital Sunday, ahead of a press conference addressing the shooting.
The Democrat identified the man who escaped the metro fare as a “career criminal,” adding he had over 20 offenses. Maddrey said the man has a history of mental illness.
Video video of the incident was not immediately available Sunday. The NYPD did share a cropped photograph they said was of the man holding the knife, a blade roughly the width of the person’s hand.
“I’m especially concerned with bystanders, people who are just trying to get where they’re going, being the victims — harmed in this situation,” Metropolitan Transportation Authority Janno Lieber said.
The subway station serves the L line in the area of Brownsville. Lieber added that there are cameras inside the the train, on the platform and at the door.
In 2019, NYPD officers mistakenly shot and killed two fellow officers while confronting criminal suspects in separate on-duty incidents.
