MTA Worker Shoots Angry Straphanger In Park Slope Station: Cops

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — A man was shot and critically wounded in a Park Slope subway Tuesday night by the armed MTA worker he'd stalked through the subway system and threatened to disarm, according to police.

The man, 39, started arguing with four workers — two uniformed MTA employees, an armed revenue collector and a MetroCard machine repairer — at the Atlantic Avenue station about 9 p.m., according to NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper at a press conference.

The angry straphanger "became irate and threatened to beat them up" then followed two of the MTA workers, among them the armed guard, onto a Brooklyn-bound R train, Kemper said.

The man kept threatening the unarmed MTA employee while the armed worker attempted to calm him down and then followed them into the Union Street station, according to Kemper.

Finally, the armed worker, a 21-year MTA veteran, drew his gun and told the angry straphanger to back up, police said.

"The male failed to comply," Kemper said at the press conference, "and threatened to forcibly remove the firearm from the MTA employee."

The MTA worker shot the man in the chest and medics rushed him to Brooklyn Methodist in critical condition, according to Kemper.

Kemper noted the wounded man has prior arrests and no one else was injured.

MTA President Richard Daley said that the agency has about 274 armed collection agents whose job it is to accompany workers who perform repairs to MetroCard machines.

The NYPD said there were no updates as of Wednesday morning.