One man has been hospitalized following a police-involved shooting at 231st Street subway station in Kingsbridge, following an apparent stand off on the elevated train track between police and the man who officers said was armed with a gun. Witnesses also reported seeing  a man on the elevated train track at 238th Street subway station armed with a gun, who had been acting erratically.

 

A press conference was held a few hours after the incident under 231st Street subway station, which along with a long stretch of Broadway, had been cordoned off by police. Present were NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper, NYPD Chief of Department Jeff Madrey, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell, NYPD Commanding Officer of Patrol Borough Bronx Phil Rivera, Commanding Officer of the 50th Precinct Filastine Srour and Captain Derek Bentley from the Force Investigation Division. Kemper prefaced the conferenced by saying the information provided was preliminary as the investigation into the incident was still ongoing.

The transit chief outlined what happened, saying, “This evening at about 7.55 p.m., officers from the 50th Precinct responded to 911 calls of a man with a gun at the train platform at Broadway and West 238th Street on the 1 line. The callers described a man acting crazy, waving a gun at a crowd, which included children.”

 

He continued, “The officers responded immediately to the train station, walked up the stairs to the elevated platform and were met by multiple witnesses who immediately pointed at the man who was on the platform area and said, ‘That’s the guy with the gun’.”

Kemper went on to say, “The officers approached this male. They observed a firearm, a gun in his hand and they ordered him to drop the gun and stop. The male refused to comply with their directions and began walking southbound on the train catwalk, parallel to the train track, and he was walking southbound on the catwalk toward the next stop which is 231st street.”

 

Kemper continued, “Based on that, the officers put the description over the police radio to other units in the field, advising them of the description of this individual, and telling the other officers what direction the male was walking toward. Again, these officers continued to follow this male on the catwalk of the train track, and again, multiple times, warning him to drop the gun and stop.”

He went on to say, “This male refused to comply. As the male was approaching 231st Street, responding officers went up to the train platform and they too walked up to the catwalk and started walking towards this armed individual, basically sandwiching him in, the officers sandwiched him in.”

 

Kemper continued, “Again, multiple demands from the officers, who were in uniform, were given to the male to drop the firearm and he refused. It also should be noted that multiple times this individual pointed that fire arm at these officers up on that catwalk area. It was at the point when he pointed the gun again at the officers when one of the officers fired one round, striking this individual one time to his left hand, causing the gun to drop and ended the threat.”

The transit chief went on to say that the officers immediately went over to the gunshot victim, secured the gun, and rendered aid to him. “The male was removed to St. Barnabas Hospital where he is in stable condition and the officers are not injured at this time,” Kemper said.

 

Norwood News began to ask police about an earlier reported incident not too far from the vicinity of the subway shooting which took place at around 7 p.m. and which reportedly involved a person armed with a knife. Police were seen interviewing people on the street at Bailey Avenue and West 238th Street at around 7 p.m. We were about to ask if it was known if perhaps the two incidents were related. However, a police spokesperson said they would only be taking questions relating to the subway shooting.

In response to a separate question from a reporter who asked if the NYPD had had prior contact with the gunshot victim, Kemper said, “So, we are familiar with him. Again, this is under investigation and we’re still determining just how we are familiar with him.”

 

Police later displayed a photo of the weapon recovered at the scene. It was later described as an “imitation pistol.”

 

Norwood News later spoke to one male witness to the incident, who declined to be identified, who said he had been standing outside KFC  on Broadway and West 232nd Street waiting on a call when he saw the incident unfold above him on the elevated train tracks. With his back to KFC and facing the elevated train track, he said he saw the victim coming from the left-hand side and police approaching from the right.

“The police confronted him right between the lights [traffic lights affixed to the elevated track track seen in one of the attached photos above] and they told him, ‘Stop, stop,’ like four times,” the witness said.

 

Asked if the witness could see if the gunshot victim was holding a gun given the witness’s view may have been restricted by the overhead railing, he said, “He was holding a gun but he was moving very slowly.” We asked if the gunshot victim was holding it up and pointing it, or if it was by his side. “No,” the witness said. “Always down.” [In video footage of the incident subsequently obtained by Norwood News, the gunshot victim is seen at different stages both with the gun by his side and pointing it at police.]

 

Given he said the gun was held “down,” we asked the witness again if he could definitely see the gun given the overhead railing was potentially restricting his view from below. He replied, “You could see it. You could see it. He had it separated from his body.”

We asked on which side of the gunshot victim’s body he was holding the gun. The witness replied, “On the left side, on this side,” clarifying he meant on the side closest to KFC. “So, the police confronted him,” he said. “Actually, the police stopped right there where the green light is. They told him stop four times and so the guy made a move, and then he got shot.”

 

Asked if he could describe the victim, the witness said he was “probably” male and said he thought he was African American but wasn’t sure. “Well, you could hardly see. He was wearing like dark clothes and a black backpack,” he said.

 

Asked if he saw the victim fall down, once shot, the witness said, “Yes, on the tracks.” We asked if the gunshot victim had been aiming the gun at the officers at the time he was shot. The witness said, “He made a sudden move. I think that’s when he got shot. The police were…. I don’t know.. threatening, I suppose.”

We asked the witness if the police spoke in English or in Spanish or in another language. “In English, actually,” he said. We asked if he could hear the gunshot victim speak. “He didn’t say anything, surprisingly. He was just…. I don’t know…..just kinda quiet,” the witness said.

 

Asked what happened next, the witness said, “He got shot in the leg, I think….. I mean because he was handcuffed afterwards. We could actually see him supporting.. his foot on one of the legs but the other was doing..[seemed to gesture a limp].”

 

The witness added that subsequently the police were not seen carrying the gunshot victim but were helping him walk. Asked if the witness saw anybody else on the platform at the time of the shooting, he said, gesturing in the direction of the 238th Street station, “No, nobody. He was coming from that side. You know I heard that he was threatening someone on that side, but the police were coming and confronting.. ”

Reflecting on the shooting, the witness said, “Surprisingly this area is safe. We never heard shootings.. maybe, you know, stolen property, vehicles, electric bikes or whatever but not shootings.”

 

In response to a later request sent to police on the earlier reported incident involving a person armed with a knife in the vicinity of the shooting, an NYPD spokesperson told Norwood News that at around 7 p.m. the same evening “police on patrol were flagged down regarding a 15-year-old male being menaced by another male who was in possession of a knife within the parking lot area of a motel at the corner of Broadway and West 231 Street (50 Precinct).”

 

The spokesperson said [upon arrival] officers encountered a 32-year-old man who was pointed out to them, who was in possession of a box cutter and who had menaced the referenced teen at the incident location. They said the motive/cause was unclear. “The male suspect was taken into custody and charged,” the spokesperson said.

The person arrested was identified by police as Jose Muniz, 32, from the Soundview section of the borough. He was charged with menacing, police said.

 

The subway shooting at 231st Street comes on the back of another police-involved shooting in Kingsbridge Heights on Sunday, March 26, as reported, when a father, Santo de la Cruz, reportedly called 311 for assistance as his son, Raul de la Cruz, was experiencing a mental health crisis. Police said Raul was armed with a knife and was shot by officers after he allegedly didn’t comply with instructions to drop the weapon and allegedly began advancing towards the officers.

 

Protestors later faced off with police outside the 52nd Precinct in Norwood on Friday, April 7, demanding the release of the names of the two officers involved in the shooting, as reported. They said Raul did not understand English, and spoke Spanish.

The subway shooting on April 13 also follows an announcement in mid-December, as reported, by New York City Mayor Eric Adams of a new City plan, regarded as controversial by some, to provide outreach and care to people with untreated severe mental illness, part of which involves initial contact with police.

 

Later on the evening of the subway shooting, a woman, who declined to be identified, who was on her way home from work and was waiting at a bus stop by Bailey Avenue and 238th Street said the number 1 train line service had reportedly been placed out of service north of 215th Street and passengers were later bused to other subway stops along the 1 line.

Earlier, we spoke to a person who was working in a business close to 238th Street subway station which had also been cordoned off by police. He said he had seen a video of the incident which a colleague had recorded from the street level. “Based on the video, I saw the one guy and the police officer over there [gesturing to the track] trying to tell the guy, ‘Put the gun down, put the gun down,’ the person said. “And suddenly the guy put a police gun up and the officer shoot him down,” he said.

 

We also spoke to some other commuters who did not witness the event but had heard from other people that a shooting had occurred on the subway’s elevated platform. They said they were inconvenienced by the fact that the station was closed off. “We can’t go anywhere right now,” they said.

 

We also spoke to Rosaury Inirio, an employee working in the vicinity of the 231st Street subway station, about what she saw. “Suddenly, we saw an injured man with a bloody hand being brought down the stairs of the station, handcuffed by police,” Inirio said in Spanish. “They put him in an ambulance. Later, a lot of ambulances and police and units arrived. They closed off the subway station, the streets, the traffic and a mountain of people gathered.”

 

Asked if she heard the gunshot from inside where she was working, Inirio said, “No, I heard nothing. I only saw one person [injured].”

 

Earlier that evening, the first female commanding officer of the 50th Precinct, Filastine Srour, had been attending an Iftar dinner hosted by Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, before Srour later attended the press conference held at 231st Street subway station following the shooting at the station that same night. The incident happened not too far from the 50th Precinct stationhouse in Kingsbridge.

To view two brief videos of the area cordoned off by police around 231st Street, click here and here.

 

On the same day, a man shot by police in Brooklyn during what was initially understood by police to be a burglary, died. The man reportedly lived in the building and had allegedly pointed a gun at responding officers. Separately, on the same day, another man was shot in Queens by police. He had reportedly been armed with a knife and had allegedly stabbed a security guard.

 

If you or someone you know needs support, call 888-NYC-Well, text “Well” to 65173 or visit nyc.gov/nycwell.’

 

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