Teen, 15, fatally shot after argument on New York subway
A 15-year-old boy was fatally shot on a New York subway train after a dispute between two groups of people escalated into violence. It was the eighth killing in New Yorks subway system this year, at a time when a gradual increase in ridership after a steep decline during the COVID-19 pandemic has been hampered by riders safety concerns. According to police, who didnt identify the victim, the teenager was in one of the groups that got into an argument on an A train in Queens shortly before 4 pm on Friday.
As the train neared the lines final stop in Far Rockaway, near JFK Airport, someone fired one shot, striking the boy in the chest. A passenger helped him off the train when it reached the station. Police and emergency personnel took him to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police were reviewing security camera footage from the station and the surrounding area. They didnt say whether they had identified any suspects or a more specific motivation for the shooting.
Despite the deployment of more than 1,000 more police officers in the system since the pandemic began, a survey released last month by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority found that 70 per cent of riders felt there were too few officers in the system. Barely more than 50 per cent said they felt safe or very safe on trains or in stations.
“We obviously have work to do,” New York City Transit President Richard Davey said Friday. “Weve got to stop this.” NYPD Chief of Transit Jason Wilcox said arrests have been made in all seven of the previous killings this year.
Last month, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the MTA would put cameras on all of its nearly 6,400 subway cars to rebuild riders faith in the systems safety. The project is expected to take three years to complete.
New York Citys subway system already has more than 10,000 existing security cameras in its 472 stations.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)