Police said on Monday they were searching for a man who allegedly removed a knife from the scene of a shooting at a Brooklyn subway station on Sunday, when officers shot and injured four people while confronting a fare evasion suspect. The development contradicted an earlier claim from the department that officers had recovered the weapon from the scene.
The shooting occurred around 3 p.m. on Sunday at the Sutter Avenue L train station in Brownsville. NYPD officials said officers had observed 37-year-old Derell Mickles enter the station without paying the fare and that they opened fire — after using their Tasers on him ineffectively — when he pulled out a knife on the platform. The shooting left four people injured, including Mickles, an NYPD officer and two bystanders, according to police.
On Sunday, the NYPD initially said a knife was recovered from the scene and posted a photo of it on social media. But police changed course on Monday afternoon and said an unknown man was spotted removing the knife and fleeing from the station around 3:30 p.m. The NYPD released a photo of the man and said he was last seen in front of 480 Sutter Ave.
David LaFauci, who said he was sitting across from Mickles when the 37-year-old entered a train that had pulled into the station during the confrontation, told Gothamist he heard officers order Mickles at least once to drop a knife before they all boarded.
“I never saw a knife, but I don’t think I saw both of his hands,” LaFauci said in a phone interview.
Mickles kept his hands behind his back as the officers gave him orders, according to LaFauci. The incident escalated when Mickles walked past the officers and back onto the platform, he said, and at least one officer fired his Taser before yelling “Taser, Taser, Taser.”
“He was walking away when they tased him, definitely,” said LaFauci. “I heard a bunch of pops, probably about eight, nine shots.”
LaFauci said he then waited on the platform, assuming police would want to interview him about what had happened. But he said they never did, and he left the station without giving his name or phone number to investigators.
The two bystanders injured in the incident were a 26-year-old woman and 49-year-old man, who was struck in the head by a bullet and was in critical condition as of Monday morning, NYPD officials said. Mickles was also listed in critical condition. His mother told Gothamist that she was shocked to learn he was involved in the incident and was hospitalized.
NYPD officials said the responding officers fired at Mickles after he allegedly threatened to kill them, refused to comply with their orders to remove his hands from his pockets, and brandished a knife.
His mother, Gloria Holloway, said he works as a chef in the city and often carries a pocket knife. Police arrested him after they shot him in the stomach, according to officials.
One of the bullets police fired hit an officer in the armpit, the NYPD said. Witness video obtained by Gothamist depicts chaos on the station platform, including a bloodied man lying on the floor of a subway car with his hands handcuffed behind his back and, in the next car, another person face down on the floor.
This is a developing story and may be updated.