NYC Subway Rider Is Fatally Pushed Onto Tracks

24-year-old suspect charged with murder
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 26, 2024 9:55 AM CDT
NYC Subway Rider Is Fatally Pushed Onto Tracks
Police officers patrol in a passageway connecting New York City's Port Authority bus terminal and the Times Square subway station on Dec. 12, 2017. New York City plans to intensify a crackdown on subway fare-beating by sending at least 800 officers to keep watch on turnstiles.   (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

A New York City subway rider was pushed onto the tracks and killed by a train, reports the AP, the latest in a string of violent episodes in the city's transit system that have prompted officials to beef up policing in the subway system. The shoving victim, who hasn't been identified, was pushed onto the tracks inside an East Harlem subway station shortly before 7pm local time on Monday, police said. The operator of an oncoming No. 4 train was unable to stop and the person was killed, police said. The suspected shover, Carlton McPherson, 24, was arrested on a murder charge, a police spokesperson said.

The fatal push happened on the same day that New York City officials announced a plan to send 800 more police officers into the subway system to crack down on fare evasion. While officials have framed fare-beating as a problem because of lost revenue, they say it also contributes to a lawless atmosphere. "The tone of law and order starts at the turnstiles," NYPD Transit Chief Michael Kemper said at a news conference on Monday.

Officials said overall crime in the transit system is down 15% so far this month compared to last year, but several high-profile shootings and slashings in the last few months have scared many commuters. Earlier this month, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced she was sending National Guard troops to help conduct random bag checks in subway stations. Hours before Monday's news conference about the plan to send more officers into the system, a man was stabbed multiple times on a subway train in a dispute over smoking, police said. A suspect was arrested.

(More New York City subway stories.)

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