FILE – A police officer in a subway station
File photo/Dean Moses
The 32-year-old man behind the Brooklyn subway shooting on March 14 will not be charged at this time because it appeared to be a case of self-defense, according to Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez’s office.
“Yesterday’s shooting inside a crowded subway car was shocking and deeply upsetting,” said Oren Vaniv, a spokesperson for Gonzalez, in a statement issued on March 15. “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.”
Meanwhile, police brass sought to tie the horrific episode with fare evasion — noting at a Friday press conference at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn Streets station in Downtown Brooklyn that the 36-year-old man who apparently instigated the fight with the 32-year-old man, which led to the shooting, had apparently entered the subway system through an open emergency exit gate, skirting the fare.
“It’s important that we enforce that service and people who are not paying the fare, oftentimes we see people enter the subway station looking to cause harm and they never pay the fare,” Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said. “So this is why we stress to our officers it’s important to address theft of service.”
The 36-year-old man remains in critical condition at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital after being shot in the head with his own gun by the 32-year-old man just after 4:45 p.m. on March 14 on board a Manhattan-bound A train as it pulled into the Hoyt-Schermerhorn Streets station.
The entire episode began after the 32-year-old man boarded the A express train at the Nostrand Avenue stop. Within seconds, cops said, the 36-year-old man confronted him and became aggressive.
Video of the incident indicated that the 36-year-old man began shouting racist threats at the 32-year-old man, apparently believing…
Read the full article here
