New York City police are searching Thursday for a person of interest wanted for allegedly shoving a 30-year-old woman into a moving subway train in Manhattan, leaving her now “fighting for her life,” officials say.
The incident happened around noon Thursday at the Fifth Avenue/53rd St station and the individual being pursued, identified as 39-year-old Sabir Jones, is known to law enforcement, NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper told reporters at the scene.
“As a train was pulling out of the station, she was pushed, causing her head to strike the moving train. The train departed the station and then she fell onto the tracks,” Kemper said. “Fortunately, there were eyewitnesses and good Samaritans that were on that platform that helped her up back off the roadbed onto the platform.”
Kemper said the victim was taken to a local hospital for head trauma and is now in critical condition after undergoing surgery.
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Sabir Jones, identified by the NYPD as a person of interest in the subway shove incident, is seen on Wednesday, Oct. 18 in surveillance footage leaving the station in Manhattan. (NYPD )
“We pray for her speedy and full recovery,” he said.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chair and CEO John Lieber said the woman is now “fighting for her life” at the hospital.
“New Yorkers put up with a lot. What they can’t put up with is people randomly coming up to them – which appears to be the case here – and attacking them,” he said.
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Sabir Jones has a history with law enforcement, the NYPD says. (NYPD)
“I’m not a mental health professional, but I’m sure that the people who… have to figure out how to get these people out of the public space and into treatment so that they get in better condition for themselves, and more importantly, for New Yorkers, who are just trying to live their lives,” Lieber added.
As of Thursday, 15 people this year have been pushed onto the subway tracks in New York City, down from 22 at this point last year, according to Fox5 NY.
The train, not shown here, was moving when the woman was shoved into it Wednesday, police said. (iStock)
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The New York City Police Department has released images of Jones in its search for him.
