One dead in shooting after fight on New York subway

One person was killed and five others were wounded when a gunman opened fire on a subway train and station platform in the Bronx borough on Monday, New York City police said. According to officials, the shooting on the train occurred when two groups of teenagers were fighting among themselves.

Someone in the groups pulled out a gun, New York Police Department (NYPD) officials said during a press conference outside the station where the violence occurred.

Police said the first shot was fired inside the train, but all six people shot were on the platform outside the train when they were shot.

A 34-year-old man died, while five other people who were taken to hospital suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

The victims ranged in age from 14 to 71, and included four men and two women.

“To the shooter – you are now the NYPD’s Most Wanted, and the world’s greatest detectives are searching for you,” said NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Tariq Shepard. “We suggest you involve yourself.”

At the press conference, police and transit system officials emphasized that the shooting was a rare act of violence on the subway, working to ease riders’ fears.

Data shows that approximately 3.8 million trips are made on New York’s subway system on an average weekday, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority reported 570 felony assaults in 2023.

The shootings are particularly unusual: In 2022, when a man wounded 10 people with a handgun on a train passing through Brooklyn, it was the first mass shooting attack on the subway system since 1984.

A few weeks later, in May 2022, a man shot and killed 48-year-old Daniel Enriquez on a Q train in what police described as an unprovoked attack.

Fears about how dangerous the subway really is among commuters rose early in the pandemic, when subway crime rates spiked in early 2020 but returned to normal levels in 2021.

Despite declining crime rates, riders’ perception of danger remains high.

Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat and former city police captain, has sought to reassure nervous passengers by increasing the number of police officers in Metro stations.