The suspect believed to be responsible for a shooting during an attempted robbery aboard a NYC subway has been arrested, police said, and it may have been something he was wearing that gave him away.
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 the man 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. The victim told NBC New York from his hospital bed that he is still traumatized.
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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.
The NYPD said that just minutes before his arrest on Tuesday, the suspect had robbed a Chase bank on Seventh Avenue. Officers followed a hunch that he'd get back on the train, and 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.
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O'Reilly did not give the suspect much credit for returning to the scene of the shooting just a day later.
"Very foolish. We transmitted pictures of those shoes, readily identifiable, easy for officers to spot," O'Reilly said.
The quick work by NYPD Transit Officers brought to the suspect's three-day crime spree. Police said that just before Monday's shooting at the subway station, the suspect robbed a nearby TD Bank. He is also accused of robbing a customer at a bodega on 41st street.
"It’s clear putting cameras in every subway station has been paying off. In this case, while investigators determine what charges the alleged perpetrator will face, we know an alert officer recognized the man suspected of preying on subway riders and robbing banks because NYC Transit security got his picture," said MTA Communications Director Tim Minton. "That and hundreds of additional NYPD officers throughout the system are among reasons why transit crime is at a 25-year low and why new pandemic ridership records are being set every week."
The suspect, who has not been identified, was caught with two pistols and a revolver, and faces pending charges.
