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Protesters in New York demanded accountability after police shot a suspected fare evader at a busy subway station, hitting a bystander in the head.
The man, Gregory Delpeche, remains in hospital in critical condition and has undergone cranial surgery, according to US media.
Police said two officers shot the suspected toll evader on Sunday after he refused to comply with orders, muttered threats and pulled a knife.
A second assistant, another officer and the suspect were also injured.
New York authorities have made reducing crime on the subway and buses a top priority after a series of violent attacks, robberies and murders. A crackdown on fare evasion is part of that push.
But critics have questioned how the prosecution of a minor offender escalated into the use of lethal force in a crowded area.
Jennvine Wong, of the Legal Aid Society Cop Accountability Project, told the New York Times that police had put lives at risk after choosing “in a confined space … to use disproportionate force.”
In a demonstration Tuesday that began outside the Sutter Avenue L Station in Brooklyn, where the shooting incident occurred, police made 18 arrests as community members spoke out and protested for subway rides.
“Two dollars and 90 cents is not (worth) a bullet to the head,” one protester told CBS News, the BBC’s American partner.
Mr. Delpeche, 49, was in a different car from the suspected toll evader on his way to work at a local hospital for more than 20 years.
Relatives told US media that the injury to his head left him with possible brain damage. He is sedated and breathing through a tube after undergoing surgery to reduce brain swelling, they added.
Tom Donlon, the city’s acting police commissioner, ordered a full investigation.
But he told reporters: “Make no mistake, the events that took place … were the results of an armed perpetrator.”
New York Mayor Eric Adams, a former official, also defended the officials’ response.
“He was not shot for tax evasion. He was shot because he had a knife and went after the police officers,” he said on Tuesday.
“I think those officers responded accordingly.”
The officers involved have not been named but have been placed on desk duty pending an investigation.
At a news conference, NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said two officers saw a man — later identified as Derrell Mickles — pass through barriers without paying.
Maddrey said body camera footage showed the suspect threatening to “kill” the officers if they followed him, before confronting them with a knife.
The footage shows a train pulled into the station as the standoff escalates. Officers fired Tasers at the man – to no effect – as he attempted to board the train, before jumping onto the platform.
“At one point, he advances on one of the officers with his knife,” Maddrey said. “The officer stops, draws his weapon, and both officers at this point fire.”
Two bystanders, a policeman and the suspect were hit.
Maddrey said the officer realized he had been shot in the armpit but continued to perform “safety measures” on the suspect. The two officers realized that two passers-by had also been hit by the fire. Two other officers then arrived and helped the injured.
Officials said the suspect had a record of 20 prior arrests and a significant history of mental illness.
Janno Liever, the chief executive of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said the incident “started because someone wanted to come to the transit system with a weapon, someone who … had a history of crime and a history of violence and even gun charges.”
Police said on Sunday that a knife had been recovered and posted a photo on social media. The next day, however, he posted another message saying that the knife had been taken from the crime scene by an unidentified man.
Officers recovered a different knife at the scene, believing it to be the one the suspect was carrying, according to Gothamist.
An NYPD spokesperson told the news site that the knife they seized must have been left by another subway rider.
City authorities have tried to expand the police presence in their transport system after an increase in crime. All stations on the city’s system have security cameras and pilot schemes are being run to scan passengers for weapons.
The MTA last year announced a crackdown on fare evasion, backed by police enforcement. Officials say aggressive enforcement can help catch criminals and remove weapons from New York trains.
But the problem continues to grow, with NYPD statistics showing 2,227 arrests and more than 30,000 citations in the second quarter of this year — roughly double that of the same period five years ago.