Police: Retired Corrections Officer Fatally Shoots Man Who Allegedly Assaulted Him on NYC Subway — and He May Not Face Charges

No charges have been filed against a 69-year-old retired corrections officer who allegedly shot and killed a younger man who witnesses said slurred and assaulted him on a New York City subway train Tuesday evening.

“He appears to be a licensed gun-holder, so unless it's determined that it was a bad shooting, he shouldn’t be charged,” a high-ranking police source told the New York Daily News.

The victim (left) and the alleged gunman (right) just before their final confrontation. (Image source: WCBS-TV)

The victim was 32-year-old Gilbert Drogheo of Harlem, police told WCBS-TV. Drogheo was apparently unarmed.

The man who allegedly shot him was identified by a law enforcement official Wednesday as William Groomes, according to the New York Times; he was taken by police to a hospital for treatment and released. Drogheo's unnamed friend at the scene was being questioned, police said.

Cellphone video was rolling when the shooting occurred on a subway platform.

Things heated up when the retired officer reportedly tried to board a subway train and pass Drogheo and his friend.

“They were talking mad trash,” 30-year-old Thomas Berry, who said he saw the incident, told the Daily News. “They must have been drunk.”

Berry added to the paper that one of the two men told the retired corrections officer, “Oh, I got you now, my n*****."

“[The older man] said, ‘I’m not your n*****, I’m not your boy,’” Berry said. “He said, ‘Leave me alone, don’t talk to me.’ He was being really calm.”

Image source: WCBS-TV

All three men were black, police told the Daily News, though Berry said one of them looked Hispanic.

Police said one of the men spit in the retired officer's face, the Times reported.

Image source: WCBS-TV

When the retired officer tried to get off the train, one of the men punched him in the head, Berry and police told the Daily News.

“He just clocked the guy,” Berry said. “The older man was taken back. I saw him pull the gun out of the pocket.”

According to the Times, Groomes had a holstered 9-millimeter gun. The Daily News reported he held the gun to the side of the man who punched him, but the man pushed the retired officer into a seat.

[sharequote align="center"]"I saw him pull the gun out of the pocket."[/sharequote]

“Everyone said ‘gun’ and ran off the train," Berry said. "I was standing there in shock. I didn’t know what happened."

The retired officer then popped a clip into his gun and followed the two men off the train, Berry said.

In the video from WCBS, the retired corrections officer was apparently walking up and down steps in pursuit of the men as at least one bystander yelled out not to shoot. At one point the retired officer came face to face with Drogheo, punched him, and gunfire was heard during the scuffle.

Drogheo was shot in the torso, police and MTA sources told the Daily News, adding that he died at a hospital. Drogheo's friend was arrested at the scene, sources told the Daily News.

(H/T: Gawker)

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