Authorities arrived at the Franklin Avenue station, off Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, on Sunday night, trying to help a man who was shot on a train, but who did not survive his injuries.
“If you take the train, you are supposedly going home or to work and suddenly you are shot, explains Carlos Lobo. You don’t know if he’s going to get to work or home. The situation is sad,” she adds.
It is the first fatal shooting of 2024 on the train system and police identified the victim as 45-year-old Richard Henderson.
They say he boarded a 3 line train heading to Manhattan on Pennsylvania Avenue with a friend, who has served as a witness.
He told the uniformed officer that with the train moving, a dispute broke out over loud music.
The victim, who was presumably not involved in said argument, tried to intervene.
The suspect then began to walk away from the scene, but then turned and fired, striking Henderson in the back and shoulder, while the train was passing through the Rockaway Avenue station.
Police have not determined whether the bullets were intended for the subject of the dispute or the victim.
They confirm that the gunman fled between the train cars, before getting off on Utica Avenue.
Users are surprised and at the same time worried about what happened:
Aaron Manuel, public transport user says:
“I have lived here for 32 years and it is a beautiful neighborhood, this type of thing never happened. I hope they catch the person who did it and there has to be more surveillance because it is a very large station with many exits,” adds Mary López .
“Wherever, it happens. There are places that are much worse, others better. But it is unfortunate, and I would like to know how we can collaborate to avoid that.”
This young woman says that it is even more difficult to use the system for people like her mother:
“She can’t come here to be on the train alone because she’s afraid of getting hit…you know, it’s very difficult, especially for older people,” says Stephanie De La Cruz.
Figures from the Police Department through the month of November show that in 2023 there were five homicides on the New York train system.
The preliminary description that police have of the suspect is of a man in his 30s, with dark skin, is approximately 5 feet 8 inches tall and has long, dreadlocked hair.
And if you have information that may lead to the whereabouts of the suspect, call the Crime Stoppers line, it is 1 888 57 PISTA.
There is a reward from the authorities and all calls are confidential.
