BROWNSVILLE, Brooklyn (PIX11) – A man is accused of jumping a turnstile gate and making threats inside a Brooklyn subway station before police officers opened fire on Sunday, according to the NYPD.
It happened inside the Sutter Avenue subway station in Brownsville around 3 p.m. Officers patrolling the station saw the 37-year-old man pass through a gate without paying, police said.
The officers approached the man for fare evasion, followed him onto the platform and asked that he stopped moving, according to authorities. The suspect allegedly said, “I am going to kill you if you don’t stop following me.”
The suspect then hopped onto a northbound train, police said. The officers did deploy their Tasers, but they were not effective.
The man is then accused of getting off the train and charging at the officers with a knife, prompting the officers to fire their service weapons, according to authorities.
The suspect was hit several times in the stomach, police said. One of the officers was shot in the chest, a bystander was grazed in the head and another bystander was shot in the leg, according to authorities.
"Our police officers are out every day, whether it’s on patrol, whether it’s on the subway, whether it’s patrolling the streets. This is the dangerous environment our police officers are up against," said PBA President Patrick Hendry. "The question needs to be answered, 'Why was this dangerous individual who was arrested numerous amounts of times, why was he out in the streets of the city of New York?'"
All of the victims are expected to survive. The suspect has a significant arrest history as well as a history of mental illness, according to authorities.
Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
Erin Pflaumer is a digital content producer from Long Island who has covered both local and national news since 2018. She joined PIX11 in 2023. See more of her work here.