1 Charged In Connection With Fatal Shooting At Brooklyn Subway Station
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A man has been charged, and a retired correction officer was being questioned late Wednesday, in connection with a deadly shooting at a Brooklyn subway station.
Joscelyn Evering, 28, was charged with assault and menacing in the scuffle with retired correction officer William Groomes. Another man involved in the quarrel -- Gilbert Drogheo, 32 -- was allegedly later shot and killed by Groomes.
Sources told CBS2 Evering was charged with felony assault because Groomes is over 65.
He was accused of pushing the retired officer into a vacant seat twice during the quarrel on the train.
Groomes, 69, was himself questioned and released Wednesday but was expected to be brought back for additional questioning, CBS2's Janelle Burrell reported.
As WCBS 880's Irene Cornell reported, police sources said Groomes had a valid carry permit for his weapon. A grand jury was pending on whether he would be charged.
Under New York City law, retired law enforcement officers with permits to carry guns must retreat unless they are facing deadly physical force, Cornell reported.
Investigators also spent much of Tuesday night questioning a friend of the victim who was with him at the time of incident.
The shooting happened around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday on the mezzanine level of the Borough Hall station, police said.
Police sources told CBS2 the dispute began on board a Brooklyn-bound number 4 train. Groomes had apparently walked between Drogheo and his friend as he entered the train, upsetting them, sources said.
Groomes allegedly got out the gun and loaded it after the alleged assailants pushed him into a seat.
All three then got off at the Borough Hall station.
That was when Groomes, in exclusive video obtained by CBS2, can be seen following Drogheo through the station as other riders are heard yelling out to him not to fire.
But in the video, Groomes continues pursuing Drogheo, CBS2's Lou Young reported. Near the exit gate Groomes hits Drogheo, they struggle, and the gun goes off at point-blank range. The muzzle flash is seen inches from Drogheo's abdomen.
Sources told CBS2 that Groomes did identify himself as an "officer" and threatened to "make an arrest," but he is retired and did not have peace officer status to make arrests.
In the seconds after the shooting, frantic straphangers scrambled for cover.
"I heard, like, a crackling sound, but I didn't assume it was a gunshot at first," witness Arayn Church said. "When I seen people dashing up the stairs, then I realized, you know, adrenaline just started pumping."
"Like a pow, pow sound. Sounded like a firecracker, but then I said: 'No, that's not a firecracker. That's more like a gunshot,'" witness Fatima Manuel said.
Drogheo was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Wednesday morning, relatives at Drogheo's Harlem apartment did not want to speak about their loss.
"We're mourning," one man said. "We don't want to talk right now."
Meanwhile, those who know Groomes said they are happy he is not being charged yet.
A woman living in Groomes' building told CBS2's Valerie Castro that she can't imagine he fired the weapon without good reason.
"This is why you have a gun after you're retired. We work with criminals, and if he felt that he was threatened at the time, then yes, by all means protect yourself," she said.
The woman, a fellow retired correction officer, said former prisoners might run into retired correction officers on the street.
"A lot of people choose to carry a gun because we work with the garbage of New York," the neighbor said.
CBS2 is told both Evering and Drogheo have substantial criminal records.
The investigation was ongoing late Wednesday.