
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 8, 1993                   TAG: 9312080200
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: GARDEN CITY, N.Y.                                LENGTH: Short

N.Y. TRAIN GUNMAN KILLS 4

A gunman methodically walked through a crowded commuter train Tuesday evening, firing at one person after another and pausing to reload. Four people were killed and 17 wounded before passengers subdued him.

The man, a passenger, started shooting as the train was entering the Long Island Rail Road's Merillon Avenue station in Garden City, said Officer Andrew DeSimone, a spokesman for the Nassau County police. Four of the wounded were critically hurt, DeSimone said.

"The guy just went berserk," passenger Diane McClarey told WCBS-TV. "The shots just kept going off. He would not stop."

Passengers said they saw the man fire repeatedly, then reload the gun and fire again. The weapon was a 9-millimeter pistol, said Detective Donna Fairweather of the Nassau police.

"The gunman was subdued by other passengers on the train and taken into custody," she said. Fairweather did not release the man's identity.

"Right now, there doesn't seem to be anything as far as a motive," DeSimone said.

A woman identified only as Erin told CNN the gunman "did not say anything, just started shooting."

Passenger Mark Heaney told CNN, "He looked a little wild, but he wasn't screaming or flailing around. He was just randomly pointing and shooting at people."

Panic swept the train, Petersen said, and as it pulled into the station several people rushed for the doors hoping to get out, but the gunman began firing at them before the doors opened.

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB