Police begins search for suspect in Queens shooting
Police are looking for the gunman who shot and killed Marcus Bethea, 24-year-old from Brooklyn, on Monday afternoon inside the Archer Avenue/Parsons Boulevard station in Jamaica, Queens.
At around 4:30 p.m., commuters at the station witnessed police tending to a bleeding man on the ground at the mezzanine for the J and Z lines.
“The victim was standing in the vicinity of the token booth area when the suspect approached him and engaged him in a verbal dispute that quickly turned physical,” NYPD Chief of Transit Jason Wilcox said.
It’s not clear what the dispute was about, but police say the suspect pulled out a gun and fired five shots, striking the victim in the torso.
“I saw the cops’ vehicles and the cops were running like crazy and saw them going downstairs,” witness Vidia Frank said.
The victim was pronounced dead shortly after at the hospital. The NYPD said a 9mm semi-automatic handgun was recovered at the scene.
The shooting happened on the same day that Mayor Eric Adams said the city is close to rolling out a pilot project to put metal detectors in the subway system in the wake of the Sunset Park shooting two weeks ago.
“We found a number of interesting projects that can detect guns. We want to do pilot projects. We’re still working out the details,” Adams said.
Subway crimes were up almost 45 percent last week and are up 65 percent for the year, driven by increases in assaults.
While cameras near Monday’s shooting were working, the MTA’s inspector general has initiated an investigation related to the Sunset Park shooting, looking at why a number of stations weren’t transmitting pictures at the time.
The MTA said it was an internet issue and at a board meeting defended its camera system.
“The story of our camera system is quite amazing. We increased our cameras by 60 percent in just a few short years because we decided to make it a priority,” NYC Transit Interim President Craig Cipriano said. “And our camera failure rate is just about 1 percent.”
“I don’t take the train that often. Well, I do, but not since the shooting because I don’t feel safe like I said. It’s not that many cops on the train,” Harlem resident Aleah Shell said. “I need to get a car. That’s how I feel.”
