Subway Passenger Fatally Shot In Torso By Complete Stranger: NYPD

MANHATTAN, NY — A subway passenger was shot and killed by a complete stranger while riding into Manhattan on Sunday morning, according to police.

The victim, a 48-year-old man, was shot in the torso at close range around 11:30 a.m. in the last car of a Q train, Police Chief Kenneth Corey said at a news conference Sunday afternoon.

“The suspect was walking back and forth in the same train car and, without provocation, pulled out a gun and fired it at the victim at close range as the train was crossing the Manhattan Bridge,” Corey said, noting the shooter and victim had had no prior contact.

When the train pulled into the Canal Street station, the suspect fled, and had yet to be apprehended 6:30 p.m. Sunday, according to police. The shooter was described as a heavy-set man with a beard who was wearing a dark hoodie, gray sweatpants and white sneakers, police said.

The victim, whose identity had not been released as of 6:30 p.m. Sunday, was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries, according to police.

The incident happened about a month after the mass subway shooting that left 23 people injured at the Sunset Park station in Brooklyn.

During Sunday's press conference, New York City Transit President Richard Davey offered his condolences to the victim’s family as well as the passengers who were on the train car with the shooter and witnessed the violence.

“We look forward to finding this perpetrator and bringing the person to justice,” Davey said.

Police were looking at subway surveillance video and interviewing witnesses Sunday afternoon, according to Corey.

As of about 5:15 p.m., police had completed the investigation at the Canal Street station, and the N and Q trains had resumed scheduled stops, with delays, according to a tweet from the subway system.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call 1-800-577-8477.