NEW YORK (AP) — The shooting this week of 10 people by a man who deployed smoke grenades and fired at least 33 shots in a crowded Brooklyn subway car was not the first time New Yorkers have faced an act of violence.
Over the past 40 years, New York has suffered multiple train and subway shootings, bomb attempts, a vehicular attack on pedestrians, and the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001.
The suspect in the latest assault was arrested on Wednesday, about 30 hours after the carnage on a rush hour train. The attack left five victims in critical condition and has unnerved residents of America’s largest metropolis.
A look at some of the attacks in the city over the last four decades:
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1984 SHOT IN THE SUBWAY
Thirty-eight years ago, a man shot four black teenagers on the 2 train in Manhattan at a time of widespread crime in the city, sparking a national debate about racism, gun control and safety.
Bernhard Goetz said he shot the teenagers because they were trying to rob him. The teens had sharp screwdrivers and asked Goetz for $5. Goetz was charged with attempting to murder the four teens with an unlicensed firearm.
In 1987, Goetz was acquitted of the attempted murder charge and spent less than a year in jail for a weapons conviction.
Darrell Cabey, one of the young men shot on the subway, was left paralyzed and suffered brain damage after the shooting. Several years later, he was awarded $43 million in a lawsuit against Goetz. The other three victims recovered from their injuries.
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ROAD SHOT ON THE LONG ISLAND RAILROAD
In 1993, a man opened fire on the Long Island Rail Road, killing six people and wounding 19 others.
Train passengers charged at shooter Colin Ferguson and held him down as the train pulled into a station.
At his 1995 trial, Ferguson rejected an insanity plea and defended himself. During cross-examination, witnesses responded to Ferguson’s questions by implicating him and telling Ferguson, “I saw you shot me.”
Ferguson was convicted of six counts of murder and 19 counts of attempted murder. He was acquitted of 25 counts of civil rights violations on charges that Ferguson, who was black, targeted victims based on his race. The dead and injured people were of multiple races.
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CHELSEA BOMBING
In 2016, a pressure cooker connected to a cell phone exploded in a Manhattan neighborhood, injuring 30 people. The Chelsea bombing sparked a two-day manhunt that culminated in a shooting in New Jersey. The convicted terrorist, Ahmad Khan Rahimi, is now serving a life sentence.
Former Mayor Bill de Blasio called the attack “an intentional act” and initially called it terrorism-related. During Rahimi’s trial, prosecutors said he attempted to radicalize prisoners after their arrest with terrorist propaganda from speeches and lectures by al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born cleric who inspired attacks against the United States and was killed in a US airstrike in September 2011.
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BOMBING ON THE TIMES SQUARE SUBWAY
In 2017, a man used Christmas lights, matches and a nine-volt battery to ignite a pipe bomb under a Times Square subway station, but the bomb, which was strapped to the attacker’s chest, was not thrown. He injured three people and badly burned the bomber.
Akayed Ullah was sentenced to life imprisonment. Ullah said he was motivated not by religious extremism, but by anger at former President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric. Authorities said Ullah was radicalized online by Islamic State extremists.
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MURDERS IN BIKE LANE
In 2017, a New Jersey man allegedly drove a truck on Halloween down a bike path along the Hudson River in Manhattan, killing eight people and injuring scores of others.
The truck’s driver, Sayfullo Saipov, was shot by police after he reportedly crashed into a school bus and then ran down the road with a paintball gun while shouting “Allahu akbar”.
He was charged with terrorism and the murder of eight civilians.
Saipov is currently in jail awaiting trial, which has been delayed since 2019.
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FAKE BOMBS AT FULTON STREET STATION
In 2019, a West Virginia man allegedly traveled to the city to plant two pressure cooker-like devices in the Manhattan Fulton Street subway station, prompting an evacuation at one of the city’s busiest stations and affecting thousands. of travelers.
New York City police have opened another investigation after a third device was found in the nearby Chelsea neighborhood.
Larry Kenton Griffin was arrested and charged with planting a fake bomb.
Reference-pix11.com