Brooklyn cop fires on fare evader shooting 4 bystanders as suspect accused of wielding knife

An officer opened fire on a Brooklyn subway platform a day ago , leaving one person in critical condition and three others injured as the cop went after an alleged fare-evader brandishing a knife.

Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said the incident occurred at the Sutter Avenue subway stop in the 73rd precinct . Officers spotted a man "skip the station turnstile" before the altercation. Maddrey said officers followed the man onto the L train platform, where he allegedly 'ignored orders' and pulled out a knife, threatening the officers.

The shooting happened shortly after 3 p.m., leaving a 49-year-old bystander in critical condition after being struck in the head . A bullet grazed a 26-year-old woman, and a police officer was also wounded. The fare-evading suspect was shot and arrested.

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The FDNY confirmed that four individuals, including the suspect, were hospitalized. All shots fired came from the NYPD.

According to officers, as they trailed the man and asked him to stop, he refused and said, "I’m going to kill you if you don’t stop following." Officers said he failed to comply with orders to address them, with the man allegedly telling cops, "No, you’re going to have to shoot me."

When the northbound L train pulled up, the man got on it, with officers following. Maddrey explained that the officers attempted to stop the man by tasing him on the train, but the tasers were "ineffective."

The man then got off the train and onto a platform, where officers say he advanced towards them with his knife. That's when both officers discharged their firearms, Maddrey said.

Police are searching for a different suspect now, accused of taking the knife from the scene and asking individuals to call a tipline if they see him. The NYPD posted a picture on X, adding: "WANTED for a CRIMINAL POSSESSION OF A WEAPON: Have you seen this man? On 9/15/24 at 3:35 PM, an unknown male removed a knife from an active crime scene on the "L" train at the Sutter Avenue train station. The individual was last observed in front of 480 Sutter Ave."

Mayor, Eric Adams, visited the wounded officer in the hospital on Sunday. In a statement, Adams described the man who evaded the subway fare as a "career criminal," defending the officer's actions. Maddrey added that the fare-evader had "mental health issues."

The NYPD’s new interim commissioner, Thomas Donlon, promised a "full and thorough investigation" of the incident.

"We will be working through the timeline of today, but make no mistake, the events that occurred on the Sutter Avenue station platform are the results of an armed perpetrator who was confronted by our officers doing the job we asked them to do," Donlon said.