Police in New York City on Monday tracked down a gunman shoot dead a subway rider in a seemingly random attack.
The shooting happened Sunday morning on a Manhattan-bound Q train that crossed the Manhattan Bridge, NYPD Division Director Kenneth Corey said.
The suspect pulled out a gun after walking around in the last carriage, and “without provocation” shot the victim at close range, Corey said at a news conference Sunday.
The suspect fled when the train arrived at Canal Street station, and police are reviewing surveillance video from the station, Corey said. Police and EMS arrived at the station and the victim was transported to the hospital where he died.
Police later identified the victim as Daniel Enriquez, 48, of Brooklyn. Enriquez’s sister, Griselda Vile, told New York Times and Upload Her brother was out to lunch when the shooting happened. Enriquez lives on Park Slope and works at Goldman Sachs.
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Goldman President and CEO David Solomon said in a statement Enriquez was a devoted and beloved employee who “formed our culture of collaboration and excellence.”
There were no other injuries in the shooting and witnesses are working with police, Corey said. The suspect is described as a dark-skinned, bearded male, wearing a dark sweater, gray sweatpants and white sneakers, Corey said.
Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell on Monday tweeted a photo of an unidentified man asking for the public’s help in locating him.
After the shooting, a train operator began pressing his chest against the victim while the conductor contacted the railway control center to dispatch the police and EMS, transport workers union said. “They deserve the city’s thanks and praise. We’re so proud of them,” said TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano speak in a statement.
The shooting is the latest in a string of high-profile attacks this year on the nation’s largest transit system, causing a sense of insecurity among riders.
At least three people have been killed this year in the city’s transit system compared with four this time last year, According to police statistics. However, the number of felony assaults, grand thefts and burglaries has increased, and overall transit crime has increased 62.5% year-on-year.
Governor Kathy Hochul said she is working closely with the Metropolitan Transit Authority and offered to assist the NYPD as they investigate the shooting. “My heart breaks for the family of the victim. Everyone deserves to feel safe on our subway. I will continue to fight to make that happen,” she wrote on Twitter.
Mayor Eric Adams on Monday called the shooting “unthinkable.”
“You’re sitting down, going to a late breakfast, visiting a family member, someone walks up to you and shoots you for no reason,” Adams said. “It’s the worst nightmare.”
Despite the rise in transit crime, Adams has encouraged subway riders to return to the city and is committed to making trains safer.
More than 3 million people take the subway on a given day of the week, but subway ridership has recently fluctuated around 60% of pre-pandemic levels.
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Adams, who victory in the election campaign on a message promoting public safety, released a subway safety plan in February that focuses on adding more police officers to patrol the trains and enforce its rules and prevent homeless people from sheltering inside the system. He also did tackle gun violence a priority during his first term in office.
In January, Michelle Alyssa Go Killed After a man was told by police to be homeless and had a history of mental health problems, she was pushed onto the tracks at Times Square station.
In April, 10 people were shot and more than a dozen injured in an incident attack a subway car in Brooklyn. The shooting, in which no one was killed, sparked a manhunt that lasted more than a day for the gunman who used a smoke bomb before opening fire on his car.
Contribution: Associated Press
