Police have identified a person of interest following a subway shooting in which a man was shot at close range in an unprovoked attack. Marc Santia reports.
The subway rider killed when a fellow straphanger pulled a gun and fired at him in an apparently unprovoked late-morning weekend attack on the Q line has been identified as a 48-year-old man from Brooklyn, police say.
Daniel Enriquez was shot at close range by the suspect, who remains at large following the 11:45 a.m. Sunday shooting on the northbound Q as it passed across the Manhattan Bridge.
Enriquez recently started riding the subway again, opting instead for cars during the pandemic. He was on his way to brunch when witnesses say a killer opened fire as the train he was riding moved toward the Canal Street station.
Witnesses told police the suspect paced back and forth in the train's last car before displaying a firearm and shooting a 48-year-old rider "without provocation."
"When [the shooter] finally stopped and shot my brother, everybody left," Griselda Vile said of her brother's last moments.
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"New York used to be if something happened, they would take care of you. They would come and help you, but there were no Samaritans. They were scared cause they would be next."
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Mayor Eric Adams extended his condolences to the Brooklyn man's family on Monday while acknowledging the horrific nature of the killing.
"It is my responsibility to keep New Yorkers safe. My heart goes out to that family," Adams said at a news conference Monday.
The weekend shooting comes one month after a gunman opened fire on a train in Brooklyn, injuring 10 people during the morning commute.
Vile said New York is her home, but she's worried about her safety.
"I think that repeating the statement that 'the city is safe,' that 'the subways are safe,' you can't fool New Yorkers. We're locals. If you step outside and people watch in your own neighborhood you can see crimes occurring," she said.
MTA CEO and Chairman Janno Lieber acknowledged worries over violent crime on Monday.
"For so many New Yorkers, the transit system is the only way to get around and to live their normal lives. You can't do that if you're scared to get up and go to brunch and most New York activities on a Sunday, for fear of being attacked," Lieber said.
Enriquez lived on St. John's Place and worked for Goldman Sachs in its research division. The company described him as a "dedicated and beloved" colleague.
"How do fathom something like this happening to a regular person. I don't want my brother to be a statistic. I don't want him to be a number," his sister said.
Anyone with information on him is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
