Suspect in Union Square subway shooting busted after fleeing bank robbery: NYPD

Suspect
The suspect. Photo credit NYPD

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – The NYPD arrested the suspected gunman who allegedly shot a subway passenger during an attempted mugging on a crowded train near the Union Square station.

Transit Chief of Police Kathleen M. O'Reilly said Tuesday that the same suspect held up a Chase bank on Seventh Avenue and 27th Street at approximately 2:24 p.m. Tuesday afternoon and demanded money from a teller while brandishing a firearm.

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The teller complied and gave the suspect money before he fled southbound on 7th Avenue and into a subway station.

"Detectives from transit bureau of the Central Robbery Squad were monitoring the bank robbery discovered the description of the suspect matched the description from yesterday's shooting," O'Reilly said.

She said investigators then canvassed the Union Square station and held a southbound R train stopped at the station and "methodically" checked each train car.

O'Reilly said police then found the suspect that matched the description.

"He was discovered to be in possession of three loaded firearms that were nestled in a mound of $100 bills," she said.

He was then arrested without incident. Police said an investigation is ongoing.

Police said they have also connected the suspect to two other robberies in Manhattan since Sunday.

O’Reilly said the details of his shoes helped authorities arrest the gunman, saying it was “very foolish” of him to wear the same shoes during his robbery spree and on Monday’s shooting.

"It was clearly identifiable, very easy for our officers to spot," she said.

NYPD
Photo credit NYPD

Monday’s shooting on a northbound N train wounded a 42-year-old man. Police said the victim was on the train just before 5 p.m. when another man took out a gun and demanded his cellphone.

As the victim handed over his phone, the man shot him in the left leg and fled empty-handed as the train was pulling into the Union Square station, police said.

The victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition.

Union Square station
Police at the Union Square station after the shooting. Photo credit Roger Stern

Just minutes before the N train robbery, police said the same man walked into a TD Bank at Canal and Lafayette streets around 4:45 p.m. and pulled a gun on an employee at the teller counter.

The man allegedly told the worker, “I have a gun, give me cash.” The worker then handed $1,100 to the man, who took off down Canal Street, where he apparently boarded the N train at a station just a couple of blocks away.

Suspect
The suspect. Photo credit NYPD

Police believe the man is also behind a robbery at a deli in Murray Hill on Sunday afternoon.

Police said the man walked into the deli at Lexington Avenue and E. 41st Street around 3:30 p.m. and held up a 42-year-old man who was ordering food.

The victim handed over his wallet as the man flashed a gun, police said.

The wallet had $45 in cash in it, and the thief told the man, “That’s it?” before fleeing empty-handed, according to police.

No injuries were reported in the bank and deli robberies, police said.

Featured Image Photo Credit: NYPD