Transit Riders Bear Cost of Fatal Subway Shooting

Darrel Rodriguez, a 26-year-old security guard, was fatally shot Saturday on a subway platform in Midtown Manhattan. By early Monday, police hadn’t arrested anyone and were asking the public to help find the shooter.

The shooting and investigation

Police said an unidentified man approached Rodriguez on the northbound E train platform at the 7th Avenue Station on 53rd Street, drew a gun and shot him once in the chest. Officers received an alert just before 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Rodriguez went to a hospital, where staff pronounced him dead.

The station sits a few blocks from Times Square. The suspect wore a red tracksuit, a black vest and a face mask, police said. He fled and headed north on 7th Avenue. By early Monday morning, Oct. 19, police hadn’t made an arrest and were asking the public to help locate him.

A law enforcement official with knowledge of the matter told The New York Times that the two men had been arguing. It wasn’t immediately clear what started the dispute or whether the men had been physical with each other. Police said the argument moved from the platform onto a train, then back to the platform, before the shooting.

Police described the location, the argument’s sequence and the suspect’s clothing, but didn’t identify a motive. They’ve asked the public for help finding the shooter. No arrest had been made as of early Monday, according to the article.

A proposed restriction on coverings

Charlton D'Souza, president of Passengers United, a mass transit advocacy group that represents New York commuters, called for a subway ban on full-face, ski-mask-style coverings when they aren’t required for medical reasons. D'Souza said concealed faces hinder police investigations.

"Yesterday's incident, the guy had a face covering. We couldn't really see him," D'Souza said. "And so, that's a big issue and it's making it hard for NYPD obviously to do their job." His proposal concerns subway coverings; the article doesn’t report that New York has adopted such a ban.

D'Souza pointed to Philadelphia, which enacted a ban on ski masks in certain public places, including public transit, in late 2023. The proposed restriction responds to difficulty identifying a suspect. The account doesn’t report other proposed measures or changes to subway security.

A family learns of the death

Rodriguez's twin brother, Derick Rodriguez of Waco, Texas, said he first sensed something was wrong when a text he sent Sunday morning didn’t appear to go through. "Something's coming," he recalled thinking. After hours without a reply, he started calling police precincts.

Their father told Derick that Darrel hadn’t come home the night before. Derick then called their mother. A detective with her got on the phone and explained that there had been an altercation on the subway.

"It's like a black hole in your heart," Derick said. "It is grief, but it is something deeper because this is your half." The fraternal twins grew up in the Bronx. Derick, older by a few minutes, left in 2021 to join the Army. Darrel stayed in the Bronx and worked as a security guard. Derick said he didn’t know where his brother had been headed when he was shot.