On-duty MTA guard shoots harasser during confrontation inside Brooklyn subway station
PARK SLOPE, Brooklyn (WABC) -- An MTA agent shot a man who was following him and his partner inside a Brooklyn subway station.
Wednesday morning, investigators were reviewing surveillance cameras to get a closer look at the shooting, which happened around 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Union St. D/N/R station.
The incident started at the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center station.
Police say a man started following and harassing an MTA revenue electronic maintainer, who fixes MetroCard machines, and a transit revenue collector, who was armed and acting as a security guard for his coworker.
The confrontation continued on a southbound R train. Both MTA employees then got off at Union Street, trying to avoid the man.
But he continued following and verbally threatening them, police say, yelling "I'm gonna f--- you up!" before the guard pulled his gun.
"The armed MTA worker pulled out his firearm while repeatedly giving verbal commands for the male to back up," said NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper. "The male failed to comply and threatened to forcibly remove the firearm from the MTA employee. During the course of this interaction, the MTA employee fired one round, which struck the male in the chest."
The 39-year-old man was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital in critical condition.
Police say they're reviewing surveillance video from inside the station. They say they have no evidence the man was armed.
"There was no weapon recovered from his body," Kemper said.
The man has more than a dozen prior arrests for offenses including domestic violence, possession of stolen property, menacing, driving while intoxicated and operating a vehicle without a license.
The guard who fired at the man is 21-year veteran and had never fired his weapon in the line of duty before.
Neither MTA employee is immediately facing charges as the investigation into the incident continues.
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