A subway commuter was fatally struck by a Manhattan subway train Monday after being pushed onto the tracks by an emotionally disturbed individual in an unprovoked attack, according to police and sources.
The victim was pushed onto the tracks as a northbound 4 train was entering the East 125th Street and Lexington Avenue station in East Harlem just before 7 p.m., police sources said.
The train was unable to stop in time and fatally struck the individual, an adult male whose identity has not been released.
The man was pronounced dead shortly after, and a suspect, described as an emotionally disturbed person, was taken into custody, according to sources. Charges are pending.
The deadly shove comes amid a surge of violent crime within the city’s subway system, including a high-profile deadly shooting on a crowded train car in Brooklyn earlier this month.
The number of felony assaults in the sprawling underground transit system surged by 53% last year from pre-pandemic times, with 570 such attacks in 2023 compared to 373 in 2019, data shows.
It’s unclear what is causing the alarming trend, but some incidents — perhaps including Monday’s deadly assault — point to mental illness as a potential contributing factor.
Half of the attacks on MTA workers in the subway system last year involved a suspect suffering from a mental illness.
According to a Post investigation, of the 38 people charged with 41 separate assaults on transit system employees, 20 of them had documented psychological problems.
Many of the individuals who assaulted the workers also had a criminal history.
Sources identified Monday’s alleged shover as 24-year-old Carlton McPherson.
McPherson has a prior assault arrest from October 2023, sources told The Post. He was freed on bond and is due back in court in July.
The MTA said that service on the 4/5/6 trains was “severely disrupted” and rerouted to other tracks.
The East Harlem station was swarmed with police Monday night as the victim’s body was removed in a white body bag on a stretcher.
Several top transit officials, including NYPD Transit Chief Mike Kemper, MTA Chairman Janno Leiber, and NYC Transit President Richard Davey, were also inside the station following the tragedy.
Earlier, Kemper and other NYPD brass announced the department would deploy 800 more officers into subway stations over the next five days to tackle fare evasion, claiming it helps deter more violent crimes.