NYPD: Man in critical but stable condition after Brooklyn subway shooting

A man was shot in the head with his own gun inside the busy Hoyt-Schermerhorn subway station on Thursday after an altercation with another rider at the height of rush hour, police said.

The shooting occurred inside a northbound A train around 4:50 p.m., when two men – a 32-year-old and a 36-year-old – became involved in a physical confrontation, police said. The alleged shooter was taken into custody right away. The victim went into surgery Thursday evening, according to the NYPD. By Friday, police said he was in critical but stable condition.

The 32-year-old man boarded the A train at Nostrand Avenue when the 36-year-old man, who was already on the train, began arguing with him, according to NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper. Police said the two men did not know each other.

The altercation became physical, and the older man displayed a knife or razor blade, authorities said. The train was still moving when the 36-year-old man pulled out a gun, Kemper said. As the train approached the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station, the 32-year-old wrestled it from him and shot the 36-year-old “more than once,” Kemper said.

“The victim appears to be the aggressor,” MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said at a news conference on Thursday. “Get rid of the guns.”

As of Friday, the alleged shooter had not been charged and police were conferring with the District Attorney's office.

Police said officers were at the station as the shots rang out and responded immediately. Authorities said the apparent shooter was apprehended before ever exiting the train platform.

There are 34 cameras at the station, Lieber said. But none were inside the train car, according to Kemper.

Trains were bypassing the station Thursday evening but had returned to normal service Friday morning.

ABC reporter Joyce Philippe told Gothamist she was riding the train when it stopped at the platform and people flooded the neighboring car, screaming that someone had a gun.

“People were fearful, not necessarily understanding whether the danger was inside of the train, inside of our specific car or just out on the platform. But where we were on the train, there was nowhere to go and it was a very fearful moment,” she said.

A video Philippe posted on X shows a train car packed with people cowering on the ground. Some were covering their heads and could be heard crying as unintelligible shouting was heard on the platform.

“People were crying, praying, huddled amongst each other, hoping that the situation would lead to someone being caught and not the worst case scenario,” she said.

Lourdes Perez, 64, was also aboard the train in a neighboring car when she heard around five gunshots, which she said were followed by moments of confusion and chaos.

“I get off the train. I see a lot of police come inside,” she said. “So they say ‘He's there, he's there.’”

Perez said she then watched police arrest a man. She was left feeling shaken.

“Nervous. So nervous. I'm still nervous. Now I have to go back. I don't know. We're so nervous. Because it was next to me,” she said.

The shooting comes a week after Gov. Kathy Hochul deployed 750 National Guard members and 250 state police into the subway system in response to concerns about crime. There have been three murders in the subway system this year.

Brittany Kriegstein contributed reporting.

This is a developing story and has been updated.