The manager of the KFC at Broadway and West 232nd Street in Kingsbridge, Chris Ferguson, has shared the video he took of the police-involved shooting outside the KFC premises on the elevated subway tracks of the West 231st Street subway station on Thursday night, April 13, as reported. He also shared his thoughts on capturing the incident in real time and his thoughts on gun violence. Click here and here to watch both the incident and the aftermath of the shooting, captured by Ferguson’s steady hand. [Videos courtesy of Chris Ferguson]

 

As reported, one man was hospitalized following the shooting, following an apparent stand off on the elevated train track between police and the man who officers said was armed with a gun. Witnesses had earlier reported seeing the man on the elevated train track at 238th Street subway station armed with a gun and acting erratically. Police later said the gun was an imitation pistol.

 

As reported, 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.

 

Describing the incident as it unfolded, Ferguson told Norwood News, “In real time watching it, I was nervous. I was nervous for the people in the restaurant. I was nervous for my team.” Asked where everyone was at the time the incident was unfolding, he said, “They were inside. I told them to stay inside, and I came out so to see what was going on, you know, make sure that everything was fine.”

 

Asked how he knew to go outside, Ferguson said, “I seen like a lot of commotion, like cops right? Then, I came out to see what was going on and then I looked up. That’s when I started to look up to see what was going on.”

 

We also asked Ferguson if he hadn’t been scared of getting shot given his proximity to the precarious situation unfolding just above him. The manager said, “I was nervous. He had the gun but you know, I still stayed out there, braved it out to see what was going on.” He added, “But it was a tense situation. I do want to be quoted as saying the cops did a good job. They gave him multiple, multiple chances. They told him to drop the gun, drop the gun, you know, so I would say they didn’t do anything wrong.”

 

Ferguson went on to say, “They did everything I would say by the book.” We asked if he could see which of the victim’s hands got shot i.e. if it was the one which was holding the gun or the other one. He replied, “He was holding it on his right.”

 

The KFC manager then described the second attached video he shot which shows the gunshot victim in an ambulance with bandages on his hand. Reflecting on the overall incident and the fact that the victim had fortunately not been hit in the chest, Ferguson said, “Yeah, really good shot. Good job all around.”

The manager later confirmed that the KFC business had no employed security. Asked if he ever had to deal with any customers who may have been experiencing a mental health episode in the food outlet, he said, “No, not really. This neighborhood is pretty safe.” He added, “It’s actually a very good neighborhood. I never had to deal with any of those situations.”

 

Ferguson continued, saying, “What I did want to say is that you know there’s a lot of people out here with guns. You know they take 20 off the street but there’s still 50 more on the street, you know? So, that’s my biggest concern because I have kids, you know? And I want to make sure that I get home to them.”

 

The manager continued, “I want to make sure that when they go to school or go to the store that they’re safe as well. So, we definitely need to do something about the guns. As much guns as there is on the street, it’s crazy that they can show a photo of a bunch of guns on the table and there’s still hundreds more. Where’s all these guns coming from?”

 

He added, “How is everybody getting guns like that? It’s so easy to get a gun now. It seems like everybody has a gun now.” We mentioned the latest crackdown on the proliferation of ghost guns in New York State and throughout the country through the passage of recent legislation, and also the ongoing efforts by various elected officials like Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark to get guns off the streets through various gun buybacks.

 

New York Attorney General Letitia James and the NYPD are also hosting a gun buyback on Saturday, April 29. See attached flier above for more information.

“That’s what I was thinking,” Ferguson said, adding that he has worked in both Harlem and Brooklyn and has seen how gun violence plagues the whole city. He referenced a recent April shooting in Harlem at a smoke shop where a person was shot in the head and then shot again in the back while on the ground.

 

“Have a gun buyback in each borough. Do a gun buyback in each section of each borough to see.. You know no questions asked… Give it in, but I haven’t heard anything about that in so long. I know it’s difficult but there are so many shootings. The gun violence has got to stop. Those kind of things bother me. Everyone is getting shot. Everyone is getting killed.”

Read our previous story on the aftermath of the police-involved shooting here.

 

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

 

*David Greene contributed to this story.