An unidentified assailant shot and killed another passenger on a moving New York subway train on Sunday, in what police say is an apparent unprovoked attack.
The shooting occurred on a Q-route train traveling over the Manhattan Bridge at about 11:40 a.m., a time when cars are typically packed with families, tourists and people heading to lunch.
Witnesses told police the man was walking down the last car of the train, “and without provocation pulled out a handgun and fired it at the victim at point-blank range,” New York Police Department Chief Kenneth Corey said.
The victim, a 48-year-old man, died at a hospital and police later said his name was Daniel Enriquez of Brooklyn.
The assailant escaped after the train arrived at the Canal Street station in Manhattan. The police review the security videos to try to identify him. Corey told reporters at a news conference that while the circumstances remain under investigation, witnesses could not recall the shooter and victim having any previous interactions.
The shooting occurred at a time when New Yorkers’ confidence in the safety of the subway system has been shaken.
Last month, a man opened fire inside a train at a Brooklyn subway station, injuring 10 people. The person charged in the shooting, Frank James, had posted dozens of videos online in which he ranted about race, violence and his own mental health issues.
In January, a man with schizophrenia pushed a woman off the platform as a train passed. The aggressor was declared mentally unfit to go to trial.
Since taking office on January 1, Mayor Eric Adams has made combating violent crime in the city a priority.
The former NYPD captain rode the subway to City Hall on his first day in office. He later said that he did not feel safe on the train after encountering a screaming passenger and several homeless people, noting that the city needs to address “the real crimes” and the “perception of crime.”
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