NEW YORK – According to police, an MTA collection agent shot a man after an argument on the Brooklyn subway.
Two MTA workers were waiting on the platform for the southbound R train at the station Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center when they got into a fight with another passenger around 9pm on Tuesday, police said. The man approached the couple and soon flew into a rage, threatening to beat them, according to NYPD traffic chief Michael Kemper.
The man continued his verbal barrage as the train arrived and he boarded, police said. MTA workers, one of whom operates MetroCard vending machines, the other armed transit collector and guard on duty, got off the train at the station. Union street to Gowanus, but the other followed them.
When they were on the mezzanine, the man approached the men again, at which point the armed officer drew his weapon and ordered the man to stop, Kemper said at a later news conference. When the man tried to take his gun away from him, the MTA worker fired once.
The 39-year-old suspect was shot in the chest, taken to Methodist Hospital and is said to be in critical condition. None of the MTA workers were injured.
New York City Transit chairman Richard Davey said they are cooperating with the police investigation and said the worker who fired the shots is a 21-year veteran of the agency. Davey said armed collectors accompany workers repairing MetroCard vending machines to provide them with protection.
While the other man has not been identified, Kemper said he is known to the department. It was unclear what charges, if any, would be brought in connection with the incident.
The case remains under investigation.
