Brooklyn DA Will Not Charge Man for Shooting Attacker on Crowded Subway Car
The Brooklyn district attorney’s office will not prosecute a 32-year-old man who shot his 36-year-old attacker on Thursday during a near-fatal confrontation on a train in a New York City subway following video evidence that the man acted in self-defense.
The altercation began when Dajuan Robinson, 36, started harassing Younece Obuad, 32, attempting to incite a fight about 4:45 p.m., according to The New York Times.
It escalated as the train rolled, leading to an exchange of punches.
A passenger captured the incident on vido and it has since been posted across various social media accounts on the social media platform X.
Breaking News: The NYC subway rider who shot a man he had been fighting on a moving A train in the head appears to have acted in self-defense and is unlikely to be criminally charged for now, the Brooklyn DA said.
— BAY AREA STATE OF MIND (@YayAreaNews) March 15, 2024
Breaking: The New York City man who disarmed & shot a black man with his own gun will not be charged for now, the Brooklyn DA said. On March 14, a violent altercation broke out on the subway. A darker-skin man beat another man before brandishing a gun. pic.twitter.com/rIeJcH22qE
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) March 15, 2024
At one juncture, a woman stabbed Robinson in the back as he assaulted Obuad, WNBC-TV reported. The woman was apparently with Obuad, according to WNBC. She has not been charged.
Robinson then drew a gun, according to the Times.
Four shots were heard going off as the shouts and screams of passengers could be heard in the background of the chaotic scene.
The Times reported that the Obuad shot Robinson in the head. He remained in critical condition on Saturday, according to the New York Post.
ABC News noted that Robinson has a history of 10 prior arrests.
Robinson reportedly evaded subway fare entry before the incident.
“He did not pay his fare,” NYPD Chief of Department Jefferey Maddrey said at a news conference Friday, according to NY1.
Echoing this sentiment, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry said, according to NY1, “The small group of people that we catch not paying their fare are recidivists. They have guns, they have knives. Small things lead to big things.”
Metropolitan Transit Authority Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber noted the attention situations like Thursday’s generate.
“Transit crime is 2 percent of the crime in the city of New York, but it has a huge disproportionate impact on people’s sense of safety because they’re in an environment where they can’t move around as easily,” he said, according to NY1.
Thursday’s incident arrived on the heels of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul deploying National Guard Troops and New York State Police to increase security on the transit network.
According to ABC 7 News, Mayor Eric Adams published a social media post last week stating that transit crime in New York is down by 15 percent. However, that’s only true comparing February 2024 to February 2023, ABC reported. Overall, subway crime has increased by 13 percent when compared to last year, according to ABC.
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