The search for a gunman accused of fatally shooting a man on a Midtown subway platform continued into the workweek Monday, as the killing prompted concerns among commuters.
Darrel Rodriguez, 26, of the Bronx, was shot once in the chest around 12:20 p.m. Saturday on the northbound E train platform at the Seventh Avenue station near West 53rd Street, police said.
Investigators said the shooting followed an argument between two men. Rodriguez was taken to NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, where he was pronounced dead, the NYPD said.
Police have released surveillance images of a man wanted in connection with the killing. Investigators said he was last seen carrying a backpack and wearing a red tracksuit, black vest and black face mask.
No arrest had been announced as of Sunday evening.
The killing rattled some subway riders ahead of Monday’s morning commute.
“I just don’t see we’re safe at the subway system,” one commuter told NY1.
“We don’t feel safe. Yeah, that’s not a safe place to be no more,” another rider, Karla Wildman, said.
Others said the shooting raised concerns about people concealing their identities in public.
“It was terribly sad. We need to be careful of people who hang out with a ski mask, covering their face,” one commuter said.
On Sunday, transit advocacy group Passengers United gathered outside the station where the shooting took place and called for a ban on face masks in the city’s transit system.
“Basically, they cover up their nose or their face. It’s not really a mask for COVID. It’s something to cover up their identity,” said Charlton D’Souza, president of Passengers United.
D’Souza argued that face coverings can make it harder for police to identify suspects.
New York state law makes wearing a mask or face covering while committing a felony or Class A misdemeanor a misdemeanor offense.
The NYPD did not respond to NY1’s request for comment on a potential ban on face coverings in the transit system. An MTA spokesperson also declined to comment Sunday.
In a statement following Saturday’s shooting, MTA Chief Security Officer Michael Kemper said the agency was working with police on the investigation and reviewing footage from platform and train-car cameras.
“Guns have no place in transit which is why we’ve strongly supported New York State’s legal fight to make sure it’s illegal to carry them in the subway system,” Kemper said. “It is fortunate nobody outside the fight was hurt.”
Anyone with information about the shooting is urged to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).