Man Killed on Manhattan Subway; Mask Issue Raised

Police identified Darrel Rodriguez, 26, as the man fatally shot Saturday on a subway platform in Midtown Manhattan. Early Monday morning, Oct. 19, no one had been arrested, and police asked the public to help find the shooter.

The shooting and search

The shooting took place inside the 7th Avenue Station on 53rd Street, a few blocks from Times Square. Police said an unidentified man approached Rodriguez on the northbound E train platform, pulled out 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 doctors pronounced him dead.

The suspect wore a red tracksuit, a black vest and a face mask, police said. He ran from the station after the shooting and headed north on 7th Avenue. Authorities hadn't announced an arrest by early Monday, and asked the public to help locate him.

A law enforcement official familiar with the matter told The New York Times that the men had argued. What started the dispute, or whether they got physical with each other, wasn't immediately clear. Police said the argument shifted from the platform to a train, then back to the platform before the shooting.

Call for a mask restriction

Charlton D'Souza, president of Passengers United, a mass transit advocacy group representing New York commuters, called for a subway ban on full-face, ski-mask-style coverings when medical reasons don't require them. He said concealed faces can 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 focuses on whether face coverings on public transit can make it harder to identify suspects after crimes.

D'Souza cited Philadelphia, which enacted a ban on ski masks in certain public places, including public transit, in late 2023. The source article gives no details about how authorities have enforced the ban or what effects it has had. In New York, D'Souza's call follows a shooting where police described the suspect as wearing a face mask.

Family seeks answers

Darrel's twin brother, Derick Rodriguez of Waco, Texas, sensed something was wrong when a text he sent Sunday morning didn't appear to go through. "Something's coming," he recalled thinking. Hours passed without a reply. He began calling police precincts.

Derick then called their father, who said Darrel hadn't come home the night before. Next, he called their mother. A detective with her got on the phone and explained that an altercation had taken place 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 was headed when he was shot.