An officer was shot by friendly fire during a confrontation with an alleged fare-beater who they say pulled out a knife at the Brownsville station. Two other subway riders were also hit by bullets, one of whom was critically injured. NBC New York’s Marc Santia reports.
One day after police opened fire at a Brooklyn subway platform — injuring an accused fare-beater, two bystanders and an NYPD officer — the department put out a request seeking the public's help to find the knife the suspect allegedly held before cops opened fire Sunday.
The NYPD released a wanted flyer Monday for a man believed to have swiped the suspect's knife from the L train where four people were shot in Brownsville on Sunday. Video circulating on social media appears to show the man scoop up the knife amid the bloody commotion.
Following a Sunday evening police press conference, the NYPD posted on X that the knife had been "recovered" following the police shooting.
Below is a picture of the weapon recovered from the scene of today’s incident. pic.twitter.com/D3AZjNr4cL
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) September 15, 2024
Now, they are seeking the individual potentially in possession of the weapon last seen at 480 Sutter Avenue, the location of the elevated subway stop.
Police opened fire around 3 p.m. during a confrontation with a man officials claim avoided paying the subway fare by slipping through an open door. He had run upstairs to the platform and refused officers' orders to comply, Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said.
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"At a certain point on the platform, the male mutters the words 'I’m gonna kill you if you don’t stop following me.' The officers are able to catch up to him. The male turns around, he confronts the officers, the officers are asking him to take his hands out of his pockets. They become aware that he had a knife in his pocket," Maddrey said at a press conference.
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Police ordered the man off the train, but he refused.
Attempts to apprehend the man, allegedly armed with the now-missing knife, were unsuccessful after each officer deployed a Taser, the chief explained. The man then charged the officers with the knife, Maddrey claimed.
Both officers had drawn their firearms and shot multiple rounds at the man, 37, striking him several times. He was said to be in critical condition.
Maddrey confirmed that no one else had fired bullets on the platform, telling reporters, "everyone struck we believe was by our officers."
Mayor Eric Adams, who also attended the briefing, alleged the knife-wielding man as a "career criminal" with over 20 arrests.
Interim Police Commissioner Tom Donlan also attended the press conference, his first since assuming the role on Friday. He pointed blame for the shooting at the suspect who skipped the turnstile.
“We will be working through the timeline of today, but make no mistake, the events that occurred on the Sutter Avenue station platform are the results of an armed perpetrator who was confronted by our officers doing the job we asked them to do," Donlon said.
A 49-year-old bystander struck in the head by police remained in critical condition Monday, as was the alleged fare-dodger. A 26-year-old woman, another bystander, also was grazed in the leg. A police officer, one of the two who opened fire on the platform, was struck. Officials said the cop was expected to make a full recovery.
