Man shot dead in targeted shooting at busy Midtown Manhattan subway station

A man believed to be in his 30s was shot dead on the platform of a packed Midtown Manhattan subway station on Saturday afternoon after an argument turned violent, in what New York police say was a targeted attack.

The gunfire erupted on the northbound platform of the 7th Avenue station at 53rd Street — served by the B, D and E lines in tourist-heavy Midtown West — at 12:21 p.m., the NYPD told the New York Post. An E train had pulled up and opened its doors moments earlier, and one witness told the Post he heard two shots fired roughly eight seconds apart, sending commuters running.

First responders gave the victim CPR on the platform before rushing him to Bellevue Hospital in cardiac arrest, where he was pronounced dead. He had been shot once in the chest, according to USA Today, which cited police. The victim has not been publicly identified.

The gunman and another person had been involved in a dispute on the platform, NYPD Deputy Chief Keith Shine said. No weapon has been recovered. Police released surveillance photos of a suspect last seen wearing a red tracksuit, a black puffer vest and a black face mask, who fled on foot north along Seventh Avenue. The NYPD warned the suspect is armed and dangerous.

“Nothing random between these two individuals,” an NYPD spokesperson told the Post at the scene.

The killing is the seventh murder in New York City’s transit system this year — up 75 per cent on the four recorded over the same period last year, according to figures cited by the Post. MTA chief security officer Michael Kemper said the perpetrators “will be tracked down” and should face “maximum consequences”.

Subway service was disrupted after the shooting, with C, D and E trains bypassing the Seventh Avenue station in both directions and delays reported across the A, C, D, E and F lines.