NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A subway rider was fatally pushed onto the tracks in an unprovoked attack at an East Harlem station during the Monday evening rush, police said.
The suspect—identified as Carlton Mcpherson, 24, of the Bronx—was arrested and charged with murder on Monday night.
The victim, believed to be in his 40s, was standing on the northbound 4 platform at the 125th Street station around 6:45 p.m. when another man suddenly shoved him onto the tracks in front of an oncoming train.
Straphangers watched in horror as the train, whose operator was unable to stop in time, ran over the victim.
He was pronounced dead at the scene and has not yet been identified.
Witnesses said there was no provocation or words exchanged before the gut-wrenching attack.
Mcpherson has a history of mental illness and past arrests, including an arrest in October for assault, according to reports.
The attack was the latest act of subway violence to put riders on edge this year. There's already been several fatal shootings, including a mass shooting on a train in the Bronx, as well as the near-fatal slashing of a subway conductor last month, and various random assaults on trains and platforms. Earlier this month, shocking video captured riders huddling in fear as a man was shot in the head on an A-line train in Downtown Brooklyn.
Just weeks ago, Gov. Kathy Hochul deployed 1,000 members of the National Guard, state police, and MTA police into the subway to check riders' bags—a deployment that followed a surge of 1,000 NYPD officers in February to address a spike in transit crime.
Monday's subway shoving came hours after that the NYPD announced it was sending 800 additional plainclothes officers to police farebeating in the subway. Officials have previously said transit criminals almost always enter the system without paying the fare.
“The tone of law and order starts at the turnstiles,” NYPD Transit Chief Michael Kemper said at a news conference.