A man suspected of causing the death of a New York subway passenger by pushing him onto the tracks as he entered a station train was arrested, police announced Tuesday, amid growing fear of network users.
The 24-year-old man was
“arrested and prosecuted”
Monday evening after causing the death of another passenger
“in a gratuitous attack by pushing him onto the rails as the subway entered the station
,” in East Harlem, in northern Manhattan, according to police.
On their arrival around 7:00 p.m. Monday (01:00 GMT Tuesday), police found
“an unconscious man who had been hit by a train on line 4”
of the sprawling metro network.
The police have not confirmed whether the young man arrested, Carlton Mcpherson, a resident of the Bronx, the most disadvantaged New York borough, had any psychiatric disorders or history.
750 soldiers of the national guard
New York, marked by strong socio-economic inequalities, experienced a sharp increase in crime and delinquency during the Covid pandemic in 2020 and 2021, but the statistics had improved since then.
The fact remains that the number of serious crimes jumped by almost 50% in January over one year.
On March 6, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul announced the deployment of 750 National Guard troops to some of the more than 400 subway stations.
They are in addition to police officers who are clearly visible on the platforms and in the corridors, since decided in 2022 by the strong-willed mayor and former police captain, Eric Adams.
“I'm not afraid but I'm careful and attentive
,” Janice, a fifty-year-old who did not give her last name, told AFP on Tuesday at the Grand Central – 42nd Street station, the busiest during rush hours. .
Likewise, Suzanne, in her sixties, says she is
“always nervous”
even though, in fact, users are now moving away from the edges of the platforms.
Because several violent incidents have taken place since January.
On February 12, gunfire in a Bronx station attributed to a conflict between gangs killed a 34-year-old passenger and injured five.
A subway driver was stabbed at a stop in Brooklyn and a passenger was pushed onto the tracks, but his life was saved.