The best friend of a beloved school railroad crossing guard shot and killed on a Brooklyn subway on Sunday says he is haunted by images of his friend's final tragic moments.
Anthony Williams, 53, said every time he closed his eyes he remembered the moment he saw his friend Richard Henderson “bleed to death”.
“I'm still nervous. I can't sleep. It's not good, it's not good,” Williams told the Post on Tuesday.
“When I close my eyes, I see my best friend Richie,” Williams continued. “I saw him bleeding to death, but the train didn't stop.”
Henderson, a 45-year-old father of three and grandfather of two girls, was on his way home with Williams after watching an NFL playoff game at about 8:15 p.m. , police and officials announced that Henderson intervened in an altercation over loud music. He said.
Williams said he and his friend “didn't do anything” to provoke the aggression, but the unidentified gunman opened fire, striking the Crown Heights resident in the back and shoulder.
Williams later yelled at MTA employees to call the police when the train stopped.
The gunman was described as a short, dark-skinned man wearing brown Timberland boots, jeans and a short leather jacket.
“I want him off the street before he does this again,” Williams said. “He's a crazy guy. He had no sympathy for us. He didn't say anything about Richie. He didn't think anything about me. He just did it for no reason. He tried to kill us.”
Henderson's shocked family gathered at her in-laws' home in Brooklyn, where they described the victim as someone who loved helping others and always put her family first.
“He died helping someone,” his brother Jermaine told the Post on Monday. “That's him! He always intervened, always wanted peace…That's what he did all his life: help people.”
Her son Richard Jr. said the family is still making funeral arrangements.
“We just want our dad to rest in peace,” Richard Jr. told The Post on Tuesday. “He was a wonderful man, a hard worker, a grandfather, a loving father, uncle and brother.”
He also confirmed that detectives spoke with the mother, Jakeba Dockery, to try to solve this heartbreaking case.
“He's a good guy,” Dockery told the Post on Monday. “He didn't deserve it. Don't do it.”
On Tuesday, Williams said she was still “very angry.” And he's staying at home because he's worried that if he encounters a gunman, he might do something.
“They better get him before I get him,” Williams said. “If you see him, he'll go back to prison.”
