New York mayor claims police shot subway suspect because of a gun, not fare evasion

New York Mayor Eric Adams said officers were justified in shooting a man who allegedly brandished a knife on the subway over the weekend, injuring three bystanders, including another officer.

“He was a bad guy and I saw the video,” Adams said during a press conference on Tuesday.

Adams claims the suspect, who is recovering from police shooting, has been arrested more than 20 times.

The New York Police Department was criticized over the incident, with many saying the suspect was targeted for fare evasion and that this did not justify injuring innocent bystanders. However, Adams said the man was not pursued by police for fare evasion, but because he was carrying a knife and officers repeatedly asked him to drop the weapon.

“This is not a city where anything and everything goes. There is a reason why you have to pay fares on our subway and buses. If lawmakers want to make subways and buses free, that’s fine. But as long as there are rules, we will follow those rules,” Adams said.

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The shooting occurred on Sunday afternoon at the Sutter Avenue subway station in Brooklyn.

Shortly after 3 p.m., two NYPD officers confronted a 37-year-old man with a knife and initially followed him onto the elevated platform after seeing that he had boarded without paying, Police Chief Jeffrey Maddrey said at a press conference on Sunday.

Maddrey said officers ordered the man to stop, but he verbally threatened them and they noticed he had a knife. They followed him onto a train that had pulled into the station and fired two Tasers, but neither was able to incapacitate him. The man advanced toward officers with the knife when both fired several shots, he said.

The man was hit multiple times and remained in hospital in stable condition on Monday. One passenger, a 49-year-old man, was hit in the head and hospitalized in critical condition. Another, a 26-year-old woman, suffered a graze wound.

The injured police officer was hit under the armpit and had a bullet in his back, but is expected to make a full recovery.

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Police and Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said the altercation, including the knife-wielding of officers, was captured on video. They have not released the footage.

A bystander’s video posted online after the shooting showed chaotic scenes, including angry passengers fleeing, police officers rushing to help the injured, and the wounded police officer suddenly realizing he, too, had been hit by a bullet.

Police later said another man stole the knife from the crime scene. Police are now searching for that man and released a picture of a person wearing a blue hat with the logo of the defunct Hartford Whalers hockey team.