A man was shot by an MTA collection agent following a dispute on a Brooklyn subway, according to police.
Two MTA workers were waiting on the southbound R train platform at the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center station when they got into an argument with another rider around 9 p.m. Tuesday, police said. The man came up to the pair and soon became irate, threatening to beat them up, according to NYPD Transit Chief Michael Kemper.
The man continued his verbal barrage as the train arrived and aboard it, police said. The MTA workers — one of whom maintains MetroCard vending machines, the other an armed transit revenue collector and acting security — then got off the train at the Union Street station in Gowanus, but the other man followed them.
As they were on the mezzanine level, the man went up to the men again, which is when the armed agent took out his gun and ordered the man to stop, Kemper said at a later press conference. When the man attempted to take the gun away, the MTA worker fired once.
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The 39-year-old man was shot in the chest was taken to Methodist Hospital, and was said to be in critical condition. Neither of the MTA workers was said to be hurt.
New York City Transit President Richard Davey said that they are cooperating with the police investigation, and said that the worker who fired the shot is a 21-year veteran of the agency. Davey said that the armed collection agents accompany the workers who fix the MetroCard vending machines in order to provide protection.
While the other man has not been identified, Kemper said that he is known to the department. It was unclear what, if any, charges would be filed in connection to the incident.
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An investigation is ongoing.
