17-year-old charged with murder in Midtown Manhattan subway shooting
An arrest has been made in last weekend's deadly subway shooting in Midtown Manhattan.
The NYPD said a 17-year-old male has been charged with murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the killing of 26-year-old Darrel Rodriguez of the Bronx inside the station on Seventh Avenue near 53rd Street on Saturday afternoon.
The suspect, who has no prior arrests, surrendered with his attorney at the Midtown North Precinct station on Thursday at around noon, police said.
Police said a suspect wearing a red tracksuit and a black face covering shot Rodriguez once in the chest following an argument on the northbound E train platform, adding the altercation moved onto a train and then back onto the platform. Police added the suspect and the victim did not know each other.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani spoke about the fatal shooting on Monday.
"Every single New Yorker deserves to be safe on every single train, on every single subway platform, no matter where they're going across our five boroughs," Mamdani said, "and we know that we've made strides in making our subways safer, and we also know that this shooting serves as an incredibly painful reminder of all that still has to be done to root out the scourge of gun violence from across our city."
The NYPD says there have been seven murders in the subway system this year, compared to four at this time in 2025.
The circumstances leading up to the gun violence prompted transit advocates to call for a ban on face coverings in the subway system.
"If they are entering the station at the point of sale with the OMNY, they should have to pull down their mask, and at the platform they should have to do the same," said Charlton D'Souza, founder and president of Passengers United.
The MTA said it supports efforts from state lawmakers to prohibit concealed carrying of firearms within subway stations, subway cars, and buses.
Notably, the state recently passed legislation mandating video cameras on all train cars.
