A 17-year-old girl and a 20-year-old man were threatened at gunpoint on the southbound 4 train platform at the Fordham Road subway station in the Bronx, and police are now asking the public to help track down the person responsible. The suspect approached on a scooter, got into a verbal dispute with the pair, pulled out a gun, and then ran off; no injuries were reported.
According to News12 Bronx, the confrontation happened around 10:32 a.m. last Friday, Sept. 25. The teen and the young man were standing on the platform when the suspect rolled up on a scooter and began arguing with them before displaying the weapon and threatening them directly, the outlet reported. After the suspect fled, the two victims left the station on their own; no injuries were reported.
The NYPD is now asking anyone with information to come forward, and has asked the public to call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS with any tips that could help identify the person responsible. No further details about the suspect's identity or description have been released.
A Familiar Pattern Near the Same Intersection
This is not the first time police have sought a gun-wielding suspect near the intersection of Fordham Road. Back on Oct. 28, 2024, the NYPD sought help identifying a person wanted for a separate menacing incident in the vicinity of 66 West Fordham Road in Fordham Manor, according to the Norwood News. In that case, the individual allegedly displayed a firearm and threatened a 56-year-old woman, telling her to follow him before she fled and he ran off eastbound on West Fordham Road.
Subway Assaults Have Climbed for Years
The Fordham Road incident comes amid a longer-term rise in subway assaults across the city. Subway assaults have tripled since 2009 even as instrumental crimes like robbery and grand larceny have declined, according to an analysis from Vital City. That same analysis found that in 2023, half of all violent subway crimes citywide occurred at just 30 of New York City's 472 stations, suggesting violence is concentrated in specific hotspots rather than spread evenly across the system.
Despite the uptick in assaults, Vital City's data indicates that serious subway violence remains statistically rare relative to ridership: felony assaults occur about once every 2.3 million rides, and shootings occur about once every 190 million rides. The same research found that the rate of repeat violent offending in the subway system doubled between 2018-19 and 2022-23, and that among people arrested for a violent subway crime in that period, 70.7% had a prior citywide violent-crime arrest within the preceding six years. Roughly 65% of frequent subway offenders in 2023 had a history of homelessness or emotional disturbance, per the same report.
For now, investigators have not released a description of the suspect wanted in the Fordham Road case, and it remains unclear whether a gun was recovered or whether anyone has been taken into custody. Anyone with information is urged to contact the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline.
