Commuter killed after being pushed in front of moving NYC subway train in unprovoked attack
A commuter was struck and killed by a Manhattan subway train Monday after being shoved onto the tracks by an emotionally disturbed person in an unprovoked attack, according to police and sources.
The victim was pushed onto the tracks as a northbound 4 train was entering the East 125th Street and Lexington Avenue station in East Harlem just before 7 p.m., police sources said.
The train was unable to stop in time and fatally struck the individual, an adult male whose identity has not been released.
The man was pronounced dead shortly after and a suspect, described as an emotionally disturbed person, was taken into custody, according to the sources. Charges are pending.
The deadly shove comes amid a surge of violent crime within the city’s subway system including a high-profile deadly shooting on a crowded train car in Brooklyn earlier this month.
The number of felony assaults in the sprawling underground transit system jumped 53% last year from pre-pandemic times, with 570 such attacks in 2023 compared to 373 in 2019, data shows.
It’s unclear what is causing the alarming trend, but some incidents — perhaps including Monday’s deadly assault — point to mental illness as a potential contributing factor.
Half of the attacks on MTA workers in the subway system last year involved a suspect suffering from a mental illness.
Of the 38 people charged with 41 separate assaults on transit system employees, 20 of them had documented psychological problems, according to a Post investigation.
Many of the individuals who assaulted the workers also had a criminal history.
Monday’s alleged shover was identified by sources as 24-year-old Carlton McPherson.
McPherson has a prior assault arrest from October 2023, sources told The Post. He was freed on bond and is due back in court in July.
Service on the 4/5/6 trains was “severely disrupted” and rerouted to other tracks as a result, the MTA said.
The East Harlem station was flooded with cops Monday night as the victim’s body was removed in a white body bag on a stretcher.
Several top transit officials, including NYPD Transit Chief Mike Kemper, MTA Chairman Janno Leiber and NYC Transit President Richard Davey, were also spotted inside the station following the tragedy.
Earlier in the day, Kemper and other NYPD brass announced the department would deploy 800 more cops into subway stations over the next five days to hunt down fare-beaters, claiming the move curbs more violent crimes.
