A conductor on a crowded Brooklyn train whose passenger was shot in the head with his own gun after being trapped in a rush-hour attack says he no longer feels safe at work.
Fred Reeves, 58, was at the helm of an express A train entering the Hoyt Schermerhorn Street station when two subway passengers collided in a chaotic collision, with harrowing images and sounds. I can’t escape.
“I’m shocked,” Reeves, who lives in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, told the Saturday Post. “It feels like my nerves are about to burst.”
Reeves, known as rapper “Doc Ice” for legendary Brooklyn hip-hop groups UTFO and Houdini, said he saw distressed passengers as the train approached the Hoyt-Schermerhorn Street station on Thursday. He said he took action.
Panicked passengers began flooding into Reeves’ car, frantically knocking on the door, and a confrontation between Younes Obouad and the unfree Dajuan Robinson escalated into a gunfight.
Robinson, 36, a gun-toting straphanger, falsely accused Obuad, 32, of being an immigrant and incited a fight, after which the two men clashed.
According to the video, a woman who appeared to be Obouad’s girlfriend stabbed Robinson in the back.
Robinson then pulled out a weapon, but Obuad grabbed the gun and shot Robinson four times, leaving him in critical condition.
Reeves partially opened the hatch as frightened riders rushed toward him and signaled the emergency brakes, he recalled.
“I think it was a fight because sometimes people fight on trains,” Reeves said. “They tried to pull it, and I said, ‘Don’t pull it, if we pull that valve, we’re going to be trapped in the station.'”
Reeves, who started working as a subway conductor in 2018, recalled telling passengers to remain calm and not apply the emergency brake because police would be at the station.
“So, I close the door and I’m talking to my boss, ‘These are 16 to 18 year olds, Apple, Lefferts, 2 to 7 year olds coming to Hoyt Schermerhorn. We need police and emergency services. ,” Reeves said. “I think it was a struggle because people rushed to my position because it was in my car and not in a taxi.”
Seconds later, Reeves heard multiple gunshots.
The train had just entered the station.
“You just hear, ‘Bow, bow, bow,'” he recalled. “Then I ducked down and jumped on the other side. Then I opened the door and people came rushing out, screaming and crying. Then I looked and there was this guy on the floor. I saw it.”
Police responded to the scene with guns drawn.
During the commotion, an irate passenger tried to get Reeves to let the girl into the car, but Reeves refused, citing MTA policy.
“And you could see the fear on their faces,” he said. “I said, ‘I can’t do that.’ So when she closed the door and heard gunshots and saw people running and screaming, the first thing that went through her mind was this little girl.” It floats on.
“Then I thought, ‘Wow, what would happen if it was my child on the train?'” Reeves said. “It just felt like [I was in] A powerless place where no one can do anything. But I pulled the train into the station, opened the doors, and let the police do what they had to do to keep people safe. ”
Reeves, who is married and the father of six children, said he no longer felt safe in his job.
“The bullet has no name,” he said. “And this is not a bulletproof taxi, so I ducked down and prayed that the person wasn’t firing somewhere. I don’t know what the situation is — they just fired at someone. There is a possibility that he may have fired a gun.”
He tried to stay as low as possible as he guided the train into the station.
“It’s not a safe place, especially for conductors. We’re at the center of everything,” he said.
Reeves called for more police on the subway.
“Maybe if they were patrolling the train the entire time, it would be much safer, not just for the passengers but for us as conductors,” Reeves said, adding that they could “reduce the danger.” I believe it will be rectified.”
“Especially when you’re outnumbered, people think before they act, even if they have weapons,” he says.
He doesn’t know when he will return to work.
“I don’t really understand because I keep replaying this situation in my head,” he said, recalling the girl who wanted to take a taxi at the harrowing moment. “All that remains is her fiery image in her head.”
