An NYPD officer's holstered service weapon accidentally discharged on a subway platform Thursday afternoon, striking a fellow officer and a 34-year-old bystander with bullet fragments. The woman was hit in the ear, while the wounded officer's injury location remains unclear, and both were treated at a local hospital alongside the officer who fired the weapon before being released in stable condition.
The accidental discharge happened around 4:41 p.m. Thursday on the southbound platform for the A and C lines at the Kingston-Throop Avenues station in Bedford-Stuyvesant, according to the New York Daily News. Cops said the on-duty officer's gun was holstered when it fired, and bullet fragments struck both the nearby officer and the 34-year-old woman. Police initially said there were no injuries from the discharge before later confirming that the officer and the woman had in fact sustained minor wounds, per the same account. News 12 Brooklyn notes that the Kingston-Throop station serves the Fulton Street Line in Bed-Stuy, where uniformed officers have been a common sight amid the state's expanded subway patrols.
A Second Accidental Discharge in a Week
The Kingston-Throop incident marks the second accidental police gun discharge in the city within eight days. Just a week earlier, on September 3, a 33-year-old off-duty NYPD officer accidentally shot himself in the leg at a home in Kingsbridge Heights in the Bronx; the exact circumstances were not known, as Hoodline previously reported. That incident occurred under the 50th Precinct's jurisdiction and, like the Brooklyn case, triggered the department's standard review process.
Under NYPD protocol, any unintentional firearm discharge automatically triggers joint reviews by the department's Force Investigation Division and Internal Affairs Bureau to evaluate holster security, weapon mechanics, and safety compliance. The Force Investigation Division is now investigating the Kingston-Throop incident, and the two officers involved have been placed on modified duty, which requires them to surrender their guns and shields while the review proceeds.
Rare But Not Unprecedented on Subway Platforms
NYPD annual use-of-force records show the department recorded eight unintentional firearm discharges in 2019, out of millions of annual police interactions, according to data reported by Guns.com. An academic review examined involuntary firearm discharges.
Brooklyn's subway platforms have seen this kind of danger before. During a September 2024 police confrontation over fare evasion at Sutter Avenue station, NYPD officer gunfire aimed at a knife-wielding suspect instead wounded a fellow officer and two civilian bystanders, including a man shot in the head, according to CBS News. That incident sparked citywide debate over officer firearm use in crowded subway settings, a debate this week's discharge is likely to reignite.
Why Officers Were on That Platform
Governor Kathy Hochul committed $77 million in state funding for enhanced NYPD subway patrols during 2026, per the New York State Executive Chamber. That initiative helps explain why uniformed officers were actively working the Kingston-Throop platform during Thursday's rush hour crush.
The NYPD's service weapons have also changed in ways that bear on discharge risk. In 2021, the department formally moved away from its decades-old requirement of a 12-pound trigger pull on standard-issue Glocks, issuing recruits 5-pound factory triggers after internal testing showed higher shooting accuracy, Guns.com reported. The heavier pull had been advocated partly to reduce negligent discharges.
Broader Enforcement Context
The Kingston-Throop discharge comes amid an active year for gun enforcement in Brooklyn. The NYPD said it had removed over 2,700 guns from New York City streets so far in 2026, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office. The Force Investigation Division is investigating Thursday's incident.
