NEW YORK — Monday’s alleged rush-hour subway shooter was led out of the Union Square subway station by police Tuesday afternoon, where, authorities say, he is suspected of shooting a man in the leg during a robbery attempt on board an N train.
Police say he returned to the scene of the crime shortly after another robbery, this time allegedly sticking up a teller at a Chase bank on 27th Street and 7th Avenue shortly before 2:30 p.m.
Police officers were waiting for the suspect at Union Square on an R train.
“Our cops are where they’re supposed to be,” NYPD Transit Bureau Chief Kathleen O’Reilly said. “They’re riding the trains each and every day. We’re still deploying a thousand additional officers into transit each and every day.”
One of the suspect’s giveaways, police say, were his shoes.
“We transmitted pics of those shoes, readily identifiable, very easy for our officers to spot,” O’Reilly explained.
Police officials said following the bank robbery, a description was radioed out to officers, and it appeared to match the description of the suspect in Monday’s subway train shooting.
“We grabbed the next train that pulled into the station, which was the southbound R train and I went to the conductor, directed him to hold the train and we canvassed each train car,” Officer Lennox-Ann Samerson said.
Once he was found, police say he was arrested without incident.
Police say officers found him in possession of three firearms inside a bag of $100 bills.
Police believe the suspect also robbed at gunpoint a deli in Midtown on Sunday and a TD bank on Canal Street Monday, 10 minutes before the subway shooting.
“It’s disturbing to say the least to see this many firearms out on the streets, on the subways, but I can assure you, my cops, our transit officers are deployed in the right place at the right time,” O’Reilly said.
As more people ride the subway, the NYPD is seeing an increase in crime underground.
The NYPD reporting a 58% increase in major crimes in the transit system this September compared to the same month last year. That is from an increase in grand larcenies like pickpocketing, robberies and felony assaults.