Just weeks after a horrifying murder on the D train in which straphangers were locked in a subway car with the suspect until police arrived, a Gothamist tipster describes a scary — though thankfully less violent — incident on the Q train this morning in which commuters were locked in a car with an aggressive passenger in the 34th Street station.
Guy jumped on the train and pulled the emergency - then became extremely belligerent and began threatening - the clueless conductor then locked us all in together, with no way out - disbelief, anger, some fright and panic then ensued - this went on for 5 minutes - I made my way to the other end and tried the door to the next car, but it was locked - after an eternity, and announcements which made no sense because the train crew either had no idea what was going on or what to do, the doors finally opened and I'm told by other passengers that he got away - I went up to the conductor and she said the cops took him, but others said she lied, there were several there and told her so - she didn't have a clue so I took her picture but she turned away and hid - the threatening guy yelled he pulls the chain all the time - is this really the MTA's protocol, to lock us all in together with potential violence?
A spokesman for MTA Transit confirmed that someone pulled the emergency brake on the northbound Q train at 9:20 am, and that the train did not begin moving again until 9:28 am. He explained that when someone pulls the cord — which also occurred following the murder of Dwight Johnson last month — the train crew contacts the control center, which in turn alerts police. The NYPD then advises the control center on how to respond, and that message is relayed to the train crew. The spokesman said the agency doesn't always lock passengers in their cars during criminal incidents, but handles the situation on a "case by case" basis. An NYPD spokesman said he had not been informed of any incident at the 34th Street station this morning.
Anyone else happen to be on that Q train this morning?
