A man shot another man on a Manhattan street on Thursday morning before fleeing into a nearby subway station, the police said, forcing passengers to take shelter on the floors of subway cars and leading to delays across the subway system.
The shooting happened shortly after 9 a.m. near 68th Street and Columbus Avenue on the Upper West Side, police officials said. The victim, who is 47, was struck in the leg and shoulder and was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was in stable condition.
The victim and the shooter knew each other, according to a law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the matter. The gunman previously worked with the victim at a computer sales and repair shop on 68th Street, Lincoln Business Machines, according to the official, and on Thursday morning, the two men got into an argument there. The victim then fled the business and the gunman chased him outside.
After the shooting, the gunman ran into the 72nd Street subway station. The police then shut down the electrical power to the station in order to search for him, ensuring that no one would be struck by a moving train or electrocuted.
The police said they did not have anyone in custody and that the shooting was still under investigation.
The shooting was a manifestation of some of New Yorkers’ fears and frustrations about safety on the city’s subterranean transit system. As the police searched for the gunman, riders throughout the trains were told to get down and shelter in place without being fully aware of what was happening around them. Some New Yorkers reported being stuck on trains for more than an hour.
C train service was suspended in both directions after the shooting, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, before resuming with delays, and there were other delays reported throughout the system.
A New York Times reporter was on a southbound C train that was stopped between 81st and 72nd Streets. The train’s conductor told riders to get on the floor and keep their heads down.
The conductor announced around 9:50 a.m. that there was a police investigation at the 72nd Street station, which serves the B and C train lines. Within minutes, two officers boarded the first car of the train as they searched for the gunman.
As passengers lay on the floor, police officers walked along the tracks outside, at times shining their flashlights into the car. At one point, the conductor tried to reassure the riders, telling them that the gunman was not near their train car.
Around 10:10 a.m., the police — in special operations gear — began evacuating the C train, as well as other nearby trains, and leading riders onto the tracks. The passengers, several of whom were distraught and crying, were then led onto the platform at the 72nd Street station and taken above ground.
Police and Fire Department officials taped off the station after the passengers had been evacuated.
Crime rates in New York City, including throughout the transit system, rose during the coronavirus pandemic, beginning in 2020, but declined last year. Still, subway safety has been a top concern for riders.
In February, New York City Transit workers stopped performing their duties during the morning commute after a slashing attack on an A train left a conductor injured. A week later, Gov. Kathy Hochul sent hundreds of state troopers and National Guard members into the city’s subways to patrol the system and check bags.
Near where the shooting happened on Thursday, shattered glass from a bus-shelter windowpane covered a stretch of sidewalk on the west side of Columbus Avenue near 69th Street.
Across the street, a Joe Coffee shop had been open for a couple of uneventful hours when the three baristas on duty heard what they said was about a half-dozen gunshots.
“It was terrifying,” one of the three, Arielle Schmid, said.
Eight to 10 people, the workers said, came running into the shop and hid behind the counter and in the bathroom, where the baristas also took shelter.
One person called 911, and several minutes later, those hiding behind the counter said it was safe to come out.
Around the corner, on 68th Street, several police officers and detectives were gathered outside the basement-level entrance to Lincoln Business Machines.
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