NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A man was killed—either shot or stabbed—on a subway train in the Bronx early Friday morning, police said as they searched for three people who ganged up on him and then fled.
The 45-year-old victim, who is from the Bronx, was riding a southbound D train just before 5 a.m. when three people—two men and a woman—got on at the Fordham Road station in Fordham Heights.
One of the men sat down next to the victim and "words were exchanged," leading to a dispute between the two men, NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper said at an afternoon news conference.
The argument escalated to a physical fight, and the second man and woman joined in the assault. "So now it's three on one," Kemper said.
The trio ultimately fled at the 182nd–183rd Streets station, leaving the man dying on the train with a wound to his chest that may have been caused by a gunshot or a sharp object, police said.
"It's consistent with either a puncture or a gunshot wound, that's to be determined by the medical examiner," Kemper said, clarifying earlier reports from police that it was a shooting.
EMS rushed the victim to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5:50 a.m.
He hasn't yet been identified, but police confirmed they don't believe he was the primary aggressor in the altercation.
Kemper said it appears the killing was an "isolated, random occurrence."
MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said he spoke with Gov. Kathy Hochul about the killing—and he credited her initiative to get cameras on subway trains with helping in this case.
"The whole incident was recorded on a camera that was inside the subway car," Lieber said.
Kemper said he's confident arrests will be made "in the near future" thanks to the clear surveillance footage.
The NYPD's investigation led to service disruptions on the B and D lines in the Bronx throughout the morning.
There has been an 18.3% increase in transit crime so far this year, according to the latest NYPD data. Just this week, Mayor Eric Adams said the NYPD has extended officers' schedules to 12-hour tours because "we're seeing a substantial amount of [...] crime taking place on our subways."
Friday's killing comes after last week's mass shooting at a 4 train station in Highbridge left a bystander dead and five other people wounded. And it comes a month after a 45-year-old grandfather was shot and killed as he tried to break up a fight on a 3 train in Brownsville, Brooklyn.
