Union Square

Alleged Union Square Subway Shooter and Bank Robber Faces Federal Charges

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The suspect allegedly behind a three-day crime spree that included bank robberies and a shooting aboard the subway at a Manhattan subway station has been identified by police, and now faces federal charges, officials said.

Damon Bailey was charged in a criminal complaint Wednesday with possessing a firearm as a felon, in connection to Tuesday's Union Square shooting as well as robberies at gunpoint of two different banks on consecutive days. Bailey is also accused in an attempted deli robbery the same the day before the first bank robbery and subway shooting.

"Mr. Bailey engaged in a gun and violent crime spree spanning several days. In so doing, he terrorized several of our neighbors and deprived them of their right to feel safe as they live their lives," said FBI Assistant Director Michael Driscoll.

Just a day after allegedly shooting a rider on a train as it pulled into Union Square station at the start of rush hour on Monday, police said that Bailey was arrested at the same station, wearing the same same green and black shoes, in practically the exact same location.

"He was discovered to be in possession of three loaded firearms nestled in a mound of $100 bills," said NYPD Transit Chief Kathleen O'Reilly.

One of the guns may have been used in Monday's shooting that left a 42-year-old subway rider injured after the suspect tried to get him to hand over his cellphone.

Police said the victim, who was seated, was approached by an armed individual who demanded he give up his cell phone. The victim was then shot in the leg before the train pulled into the station.

A man was shot at a busy Manhattan subway station just before rush hour, police said. NBC New York's Gaby Acevedo reports.

Just minutes before his arrest on Tuesday, Bailey robbed a Chase bank on Seventh Avenue in Chelsea, according to a criminal complaint. said. Officers followed a hunch that he'd get back on the subway, and they held the incoming train while they searched through the cars until they found him. Police said he was found in the last train car, which faces the part of the park where he exited on Monday.

Bailey was allegedly found with two semiautomatic pistols and a revolver inside his backapack.

The quick work by NYPD Transit Officers brought an end to Bailey's three-day crime spree. Police said that about 10 minutes before Monday's shooting on the subway, the suspect robbed a TD Bank in Lower Manhattan. He is also accused of robbing a customer at a bodega on 41st street.

Bailey faces up to 20 years in prison for the two bank robbery counts, up to 10 years for possession of a firearm as a felon, and potentially up to life in prison for using a firearm as part of a violent crime.

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