Retired corrections officer fatally shoots man in Brooklyn subway station

Witnesses say that Drogheo and his friend were arguing with the gunman on the train. The altercation continued on to the subway platform where Drogheo was shot.

A retired corrections officer fatally shot a 32-year-old man inside a busy New York City subway station on Tuesday night.

The 69-year-old gunman drew his weapon in downtown Brooklyn’s Borough Hall subway station after arguing with the victim and his friend on a southbound train just before 6.40pm ET, police said.

Location of Borough Hall station in Brooklyn

The New York police department identified the victim as Gilbert Drogheo, who lived in the Manhattan neighbourhood of Harlem. The gunman was not identified by police.

Their argument escalated in the subway station, with people walking close by as the two men began wrestling, as video obtained by CBS2 shows. The gunman can be seen drawing his weapon and shooting the victim, causing people to run and scream inside the subway station.

“I heard, like, a crackling sound, but I didn’t assume it was a gunshot at first,” Arayn Church told CBS2. “When I seen people dashing up the stairs, then I realized, you know, adrenaline just started pumping.”

Witnesses told local news that Drogheo and another person were arguing with the 69-year-old on the train. The altercation continued on the subway platform after the three people exited the train.

The NYPD said the gunman fired one round at Drogheo, who was hit in the torso and pronounced dead at Brooklyn hospital center on Tuesday night.

“Everyone said ‘gun’ and ran off the train. I was standing there in shock. I didn’t know what happened,” witness Thomas Berry told the New York Daily News.

The NYPD said there had been no arrests and that an investigation into the incident was ongoing. The gunman and the victim’s friend were in custody for questioning on Wednesday morning in connection to the shooting, according to the Associated Press.

Instagram photo of crime scene following shooting

Train service was temporarily suspended at the subway station following the incident.

Fatal shootings are rare inside the New York City transit system, which is the seventh busiest in the world with 1.708bn annual ridership, according to the Metropolitan Transit Authority.

In December 2014, a 28-year-old fatally shot himself in a Brooklyn subway station after shooting and killing two police officers nearby.