Alleged groper with submachine gun Bashe McDaniel shot, killed by MTA police near Jamaica LIRR station
Bashe McDaniel, of Manhattan, was shot and killed by MTA police near the Jamaica LIRR station in Queens on Friday night. Credit: Robert Mecea
A 52-year-old man with a semiautomatic gun near the Jamaica LIRR station was fatally shot by MTA police after the agency said he fired at them during an arrest for a groping incident on Friday night.
Bashe McDaniel, of Manhattan, was taken to Jamaica Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:20 p.m. Friday, about an hour after he was shot in the head and elsewhere, Metropolitan Transportation Authority police said.
The deadly shooting unfolded at 10:19 p.m. after a 19-year-old woman notified officers at the station that McDaniel had groped her and blocked her path on a Jamaica, Queens, sidewalk, according to MTA police. The victim showed officers inside the station a photo she had taken of McDaniel, who was wearing a distinctive jacket with a large letter B, according to MTA officials. She filed a complaint at the agency's district office at 10:11 p.m.
“She took a picture of him and asked the police officers to make an arrest,” John Mueller, MTA police chief, said during an early Saturday morning news conference.
That set two MTA police officers on a search and within minutes they spotted the alleged groper wearing the same jacket a block from the station, near 91st Avenue and Sutphin Boulevard. The officers showed McDaniel the photo the victim had taken of him, and tried to handcuff him, but he resisted, failing to follow orders to show his hands while reaching for his waistband, according to the MTA.
“He refused to put his hands behind his back. They tase him, and at some point during the struggle, a shot is fired from the perpetrator,” Mueller said.
The deadly confrontation was caught on the officers' body cameras, as police returned fire when the MAC-10 submachine gun and 30-round clip were exposed, the agency said.
McDaniel's weapon and the magazine were recovered at the scene.
McDaniel, according to public records, was on parole for criminal possession of a weapon and second-degree assault. He had an arrest history that included seven felonies and five misdemeanors, according to Mueller.
MTA police will continue to lead the investigation, with help from the NYPD.
“We will try to track where the gun came from, how it got here, and how it got into the hands of someone who's on parole for a firearms arrest,” Mueller said.
The MTA officers were taken to a hospital to be treated for trauma but were otherwise not injured.
It was the third fatal shooting by MTA police since the department formed in 1998, according to the MTA, and only the fifth time an MTAPD officer has fired in the line of duty. Prior to Friday’s incident, the last MTAPD officer-involved shooting was on March 12, 2011.
The Jamaica transit hub is a busy interchange where thousands of Long Island Rail Road commuters traverse daily. Of 11 LIRR branches, 10 run through the station and commuters can connect there to three subway lines and the AirTrain to Kennedy Airport.
The Office of the New York State Attorney General and the MTA inspector general will be notified of the deadly shooting.
A 52-year-old man with a semiautomatic gun near the Jamaica LIRR station was fatally shot by MTA police after the agency said he fired at them during an arrest for a groping incident on Friday night.
Bashe McDaniel, of Manhattan, was taken to Jamaica Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:20 p.m. Friday, about an hour after he was shot in the head and elsewhere, Metropolitan Transportation Authority police said.
The deadly shooting unfolded at 10:19 p.m. after a 19-year-old woman notified officers at the station that McDaniel had groped her and blocked her path on a Jamaica, Queens, sidewalk, according to MTA police. The victim showed officers inside the station a photo she had taken of McDaniel, who was wearing a distinctive jacket with a large letter B, according to MTA officials. She filed a complaint at the agency's district office at 10:11 p.m.
“She took a picture of him and asked the police officers to make an arrest,” John Mueller, MTA police chief, said during an early Saturday morning news conference.
That set two MTA police officers on a search and within minutes they spotted the alleged groper wearing the same jacket a block from the station, near 91st Avenue and Sutphin Boulevard. The officers showed McDaniel the photo the victim had taken of him, and tried to handcuff him, but he resisted, failing to follow orders to show his hands while reaching for his waistband, according to the MTA.
“He refused to put his hands behind his back. They tase him, and at some point during the struggle, a shot is fired from the perpetrator,” Mueller said.
Photo of the gun and clip recovered at the scene of a fatal MTA police-involved shooting near the Jamaica LIRR Station in Queens on Friday night.
The deadly confrontation was caught on the officers' body cameras, as police returned fire when the MAC-10 submachine gun and 30-round clip were exposed, the agency said.
McDaniel's weapon and the magazine were recovered at the scene.
McDaniel, according to public records, was on parole for criminal possession of a weapon and second-degree assault. He had an arrest history that included seven felonies and five misdemeanors, according to Mueller.
MTA police will continue to lead the investigation, with help from the NYPD.
“We will try to track where the gun came from, how it got here, and how it got into the hands of someone who's on parole for a firearms arrest,” Mueller said.
The MTA officers were taken to a hospital to be treated for trauma but were otherwise not injured.
It was the third fatal shooting by MTA police since the department formed in 1998, according to the MTA, and only the fifth time an MTAPD officer has fired in the line of duty. Prior to Friday’s incident, the last MTAPD officer-involved shooting was on March 12, 2011.
The Jamaica transit hub is a busy interchange where thousands of Long Island Rail Road commuters traverse daily. Of 11 LIRR branches, 10 run through the station and commuters can connect there to three subway lines and the AirTrain to Kennedy Airport.
The Office of the New York State Attorney General and the MTA inspector general will be notified of the deadly shooting.
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Newsday Live Author Series: Bobby Flay Newsday Live and Long Island LitFest present a conversation with Emmy-winning host, professional chef, restaurateur and author Bobby Flay. Newsday food reporter and critic Erica Marcus hosts a discussion about the chef's life, four-decade career and new cookbook, "Bobby Flay: Chapter One."
