MTA security guard helping fix MetroCard machine shoots man, 39, in chest after he threatened him during ‘heated argument’ on Brooklyn subway
- Two MTA workers – an armed security guard and a specialist who repairs MetroCard machines – were approached by an aggressive man on Tuesday
- They had been working at the Union St. station in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn around 9pm
- The man confronted the pair on the subway platform, and as a train arrived the MTA staff left the platform: the man followed them out the station
- The 39-year-old, known to police, kept advancing and threatened to grab the armed guard’s gun and the armed guard shot him in the chest
A 39-year-old man was taken to hospital in a critical condition on Tuesday night after he menaced a pair of New York City transit workers and threatened to grab the security guard’s gun, and was shot in the chest.
Michael Kemper, the acting chief of transit for NYPD, said that the violent scene in the affluent Park Slope district of Brooklyn was ‘an unusual occurrence’. Transit crime is up 28 percent, year on year, but does not normally involve staff opening fire.
Kemper said the trouble began when the two uniformed Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) workers were waiting on a platform to board a subway train, around 9pm on Tuesday.
One of the two was tasked with repairing MetroCard machines; the other was one of 274 armed security guards who protect their colleagues.
Police are seen on Tuesday evening outside the Union Street station in Park Slope, Brooklyn
A MTA employee opened fire around 9pm, shooting a 39-year-old man in the chest after he threatened them
The injured man was taken to hospital in a critical condition: the two MTA workers were unharmed
Offices are seen at the entrance to the subway station, shortly after the shooting
‘While they were waiting for the train, a male approached them and engaged them in a verbal dispute. He became irate,’ said Kemper.
He said that, as the subway train drew into the Union Street station, the pair left, in a bid to get away from their aggressor.
The unnamed man, however, followed the pair up the stairs to the mezzanine level of the station, and continued harassing them.
Kemper said the security guard ‘tried to calm the male down’, but the aggressor kept advancing, and threatened to grab his gun.
The security guard, a 21-year veteran of the MTA, then pulled out his firearm and shot the man once in the chest.
Michael Kemper, acting chief of transit police, is seen on Tuesday night briefing the media
Richard Davey, president of New York City Transit, said the shooting was ‘tragic’
He was taken to New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital in a critical condition.
Police said the injured man was known to them, and had several prior arrests. He is not believed to have been armed.
Richard Davey, city transit president, said it was ‘a tragic event’ and noted his employee ‘did not want their day to end this way’.
The investigation is continuing.