MTA Worker Recovering After Being Hit By Stray Bullet In Brooklyn
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An MTA worker is recovering from a gunshot wound after being hit by a stray bullet in the subway in Brooklyn.
The scene unfolded around 6 p.m. Tuesday on a crowded 3 train at the Sutter Avenue station in Brownsville.
Witnesses said it began when two groups of men in their 20s stated fighting on the subway. As the train pulled into the station, investigators say one of the men got off and pulled out a weapon.
"I just heard a loud shot," said witness Kiosha Kirkland. "Then I see everyone running."
"While on the train platform, displayed a gun and fired into the train striking our victim," said Brooklyn North Chief Michael Kemper.
The victim, believed to be an unintended target, was an off-duty MTA worker who had just finished his shift and was heading home. He was struck in the arm.
The gunfire sent scared straphangers scrambling, CBS2's Janelle Burrell reported.
"Just everyone else from the train running, trying to cover for safety," said Kirkland.
NYPD Transit Chief Edward Delatorre says the subway averages about six million riders and about six crimes per day.
"In reality, the system is very safe," he said. "Safer than it's ever been."
But after a rash of subway attacks in the last couple of weeks alone, CBS2 asked the transit chief how he could reassure concerned riders.
"Those incidents are few and far between," he said. "When you have six million riders a day riding in the system, you're gonna have random incidents as well."
New York City Transit President Andy Byford said he was "appalled" by the shooting. He and MTA Chairman Joe Lhota visited the employee in the hospital Tuesday night and said he is in good spirits.
Lhota added that transit workers "are on the front lines" every day and said "this shouldn't happen to anyone."
