New York City prosecutors will not seek charges for the subway rider who allegedly shot a 36-year-old black man in the head on a crowded A train on Thursday.
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office announced in a statement on Friday that the evidence currently available shows the 32-year-old male shooter acted in “self-defense,” The New York Post reported. The 36-year-old man, who has been identified as Dajuan Robinson, was shot after getting into a verbal spat and then a fistfight with the alleged shooter. Video footage of the incident showed Robinson, yelling at the other man, “I’ll beat you up!” before getting in his face and saying, “F*** your race. F*** your kind. F*** you.”
“Yesterday’s shooting inside a crowded subway car was shocking and deeply upsetting. The investigation into this tragic incident is ongoing but, at this stage, evidence of self-defense precludes us from filing any criminal charges against the shooter,” said Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office spokesman Oren Yaniv.
Robinson is currently hospitalized in critical condition, and law enforcement sources told the Post it remains unclear if he will survive. Sources said that Robinson was armed with a .380-caliber Ruger and a knife and was acting as the aggressor on the subway, ABC News reported. The 36-year-old was reportedly shot in the neck once, in the chest once, and twice in the right side of his face. Law enforcement sources also said that Robinson had 10 prior arrests.
Shortly after the two men got into the verbal tussle, they squared up, causing subway passengers around them to move to a different area of the train. “There’s babies on here!” one woman shouted as the men began to fight. Robinson eventually pushed the other man down onto a seat and punched him several times before a woman attempted to stop him from delivering any more blows.
The fight was briefly broken up when another man, along with the woman, stepped in between the two men. The video showed blood on the back of the 36-year-old man, who asked if the other man had stabbed him. Robinson continued to move toward the other man and eventually pulled out a handgun, causing passengers to scramble toward the other end of the train with some people screaming, “Get down! Get down!” and “Let me out!”
Multiple gunshots then rang out, but the video doesn’t show the shooting as the person recording runs off the train when it comes to a stop. Police said the 32-year-old man wrestled the firearm away from the other man before shooting him and was arrested on the scene.
Police later said that video footage showed that the woman had stabbed Robinson. The unidentified woman is reportedly a friend of the alleged shooter and is being sought for questioning and a potential assault charge.
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Last year, U.S. Marine veteran Daniel Penny was arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide after he restrained Jordan Neely, a homeless man who was allegedly threatening passengers on a subway car. Neely lost consciousness and later died following the incident.
Penny pleaded not guilty to the charges and has maintained that he was acting to protect his fellow passengers.
