At about 12:20 p.m. on Saturday, the 17th, a 26-year-old man was shot in the chest on the northbound E train platform at the 53rd Street–7th Avenue subway station in Midtown Manhattan. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he died. Five days after the shooting, on the afternoon of Thursday, the 22nd, a 17-year-old boy was arrested on charges including murder. The teen turned himself in to police with his family and an attorney, and it has not yet been confirmed whether he is the same person as the suspect in a red tracksuit whom police had been seeking.
The New York City Police Department (NYPD) has arrested a 17-year-old boy in connection with the fatal shooting on a Midtown Manhattan subway platform. According to local broadcaster PIX11, the teen was arrested on several charges, including murder, on the afternoon of Thursday, the 22nd, five days after the incident. The victim was Darrell Rodriguez, 26, of the Bronx, who was shot in the chest on the northbound E train platform at the 53rd Street–7th Avenue station at midday on Saturday, the 17th. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he died.
Timeline of Events
An Argument Spilled Onto the Train and Back to the Platform
According to police, Rodriguez and the suspect argued on the platform at about 12:20 p.m. on the 17th. The argument moved onto a train and then back to the northbound E train platform, and the shooting happened right afterward. Rodriguez was shot in the chest and taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he died. The suspect left the station and fled north along 7th Avenue. Police released a photo of a man wearing a red tracksuit top and bottom, a black vest and a black face covering, and carrying a backpack, as they searched for him.
Citing sources, PIX11 reported that the arrested teen turned himself in to police on the 22nd with his family and an attorney. However, it has not yet been officially confirmed whether the teen is the same person as the man in the red tracksuit whom police had been seeking. Because he is a minor, his identity has not been released.
A 26-Year-Old Who Worked as a Hotel Security Guard
According to PIX11, Rodriguez worked as a security guard at a Midtown hotel near the station where the shooting occurred. Childhood friends said they were deeply shaken by news of his death. Rodriguez has two brothers, including his twin brother, Derek, who is serving in the U.S. Army in Texas. Derek expressed deep grief in an interview with The New York Times.
Two days after the incident, on Monday, the 19th, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani addressed the shooting, saying that every New Yorker should be safe on every train and every platform, wherever they go in the five boroughs. According to NYPD figures, there have been seven homicides on the subway this year, including this one, up from four in the same period last year.
The 53rd Street–7th Avenue station, served by the E train, is on the west side of Midtown, in an area dense with offices and hotels between Times Square and Central Park. It is on a route that Korean Americans commuting to Midtown from Queens by E train pass through every day. We will report details of the charges against the arrested teen and his court schedule as soon as they are confirmed.