Four people were injured at a Brooklyn subway station on Sunday when police officers shot a man who was threatening them with a knife, inadvertently hitting passengers in the process, according to authorities. The victims of the gunfire included two innocent bystanders, one of the officers, and the man with the knife. The incident began when police confronted the man for not paying his fare. One of the passengers, a 49-year-old man, was critically injured after being struck in the head by a bullet that passed into an adjoining subway car.
Interim Police Commissioner Thomas Donlan placed blame on the man brandishing the knife and promised a thorough investigation into what happened. He stated that “the events that occurred on the Sutter Avenue station platform are results of an armed perpetrator who was confronted by our officers doing their job.”
The shooting took place around 3 p.m., when two officers followed the suspect up to an elevated platform after witnessing him enter without paying. Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey explained that they instructed him to stop but he refused and threatened them with violence while displaying a knife. Despite attempts to subdue him using Tasers, both officers ultimately fired multiple rounds as he advanced towards them.
The 37-year-old suspect sustained several gunshot wounds but is now in stable condition at a hospital. A video taken by another passenger captured moments after the shooting showing one officer providing first aid before realizing he had also been hit by gunfire.
In addition to these injuries, another passenger suffered a graze wound and one officer had a bullet enter his torso under his armpit before lodging in his back; however, both are expected to recover fully.
Mayor Eric Adams visited the wounded officer in hospital and described the fare evader as a “career criminal” with over 20 previous arrests. Chief Maddrey noted that he also had a history of mental illness.
Video footage of this incident has not yet been released publicly; however, authorities did share an image cropped from it showing the suspect holding what appears to be about palm-sized blade.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority representative Janno Lieber expressed concern for innocent bystanders caught up in such situations: “I’m especially concerned with bystanders… being harmed.” The subway station serves Brownsville’s L line neighborhood and is equipped with surveillance cameras throughout its premises.
This unfortunate event brings back memories of similar incidents involving NYPD officers accidentally shooting fellow colleagues while confronting suspects during duty hours back in 2019.
