The Brooklyn subway rider who shot an aggressive attacker during rush hour will not face charges, prosecutors said on Friday. Younece Obuad, 32, was arrested on Thursday after a major encounter with Dajuan Robinson, 36, when the two men erupted into a wild brawl on a crowded subway train, that ultimately led to Robinson being shot in the head.
This came as a new video emerged capturing the moment Obuad was arrested on the station stairs. However, the shooter is likely to walk free. "Yesterday's shooting inside a crowded subway car was shocking and deeply upsetting,'' said Oren Yaniv, a spokesman for the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, in an e-mailed statement.
Shooter to Walk Free
Obuad is likely to walk free as prosecutors argued that he shot Robinson in self-defense. "The investigation into this tragic incident is ongoing but, at this stage, evidence of self-defense precludes us from filing any criminal charges against the shooter."
Obuad, identified by law enforcement sources and a family member as a 32-year-old father-of-two, was released after being questioned by authorities on Friday.
Newly emerged video footage showed him lying face-down on the stairs in the station with a police officer standing nearby amidst the chaos surrounding them.
The footage also showed Robinson, who had been assaulting him, lying injured on the subway car floor, while another person repeatedly exclaimed, "Oh, my God!"
The attorney representing Daniel Penny, a former Marine facing prosecution in the Manhattan subway chokehold case involving Jordan Neely, a disturbed rider, told The New York Post that Friday's decision to release Obuad is fitting.
"I applaud the Brooklyn district attorney for exercising the prosecutorial discretion to realize that somebody who was forced to defend himself and others shouldn't be subjected to a criminal indictment — I think that's how it should play out,'' said Penny's lawyer, Thomas Kenniff.
"This is the same environment that confronted my client last year,'' the lawyer asserted, referring to Penny's infamous fatal takedown of Neely captured on video. Penny, a former military man, maintained that his actions were in defense of other passengers threatened by Neely.
"It underscores the feeling that so many innocent New Yorkers have that if you're riding the subway system, you are rendered defenseless,'' Kenniff said. "Unfortunately in the case of my client, when you do step up to protect yourselves and others, you wind up being persecuted yourself."
All in Self Defense
Robinson, who was carrying a.380 Ruger and knife onto the evening, was shot after Obuad managed to wrestle the gun away from him during the altercation. The NYPD told DailyMail.com on Friday morning that Robinson was in critical condition, and it remains unclear whether he will survive.
Robinson was quickly identified as the aggressor in the incident, as he seemed to target Obuad and a female companion on the crowded subway, shouting about migrants.
As concerned commuters began filming the wild brawl, Robinson shouted: "F*** your kind. F*** your race. F*** you."
"You think you're going to beat up cops? I'll beat you up," he shouted, seemingly referring to the January incident where a group of migrants attacked NYPD officers in Times Square.
Police were quick to note the role of the shooting victim in the altercation, saying at a press conference that bringing a gun onto a train and starting a fight is unacceptable and outrageous.
The shooting incident unfolded on Thursday evening on the A line at Brooklyn's Hoyt-Schermerhorn Station, with the brawl starting as the train arrived at the platform.
As tensions escalated between the two men, a woman accompanying Obuad stabbed Robinson with her own blade, they said.
A bleeding Robinson then pulled out his knife, only to quickly put it away and display his gun, prompting commuters to scramble toward the exits in panic.
Gunshots were heard as people streamed onto the platforms, while separate footage showed passengers in another car cowering in fear and attempting to stay low amid concerns of a gunman on the loose.
Robinson suffered two gunshot wounds on the right side of his face, including through his eye, once in the neck, and once in the chest. Besides, he was reportedly stabbed twice in the back during the altercation.
Obuad works in smoke shops. He was arrested on drug-peddling charges in East New York, Brooklyn, on Feb 20.
In that case, Obuad allegedly sold Suboxone, a drug used to treat opioid addiction, to an undercover police officer. Officers later found seven plastic wrappers of the drug in a fanny pack behind the counter at the smoke shop, according to the complaint. Obuad was released on his own recognizance.
He has also been involved in several domestic incidents, the details of which have been sealed, but sources indicate that he was primarily the victim in those cases.
