A Long Island man was fatally shot in the back of the head last week on the Long Island Railroad (LIRR).
Yousef Stein, 20, of western Babylon, was killed at about 1:45 a.m. on February 16 at Ronconcoma Station, just minutes before the train left for New York Penn.
Stein was traveling with the man who shot him, a law enforcement source said New York Post. They rode from Wyandanch to Penn Station and back to Ronconcoma, the end of the line. The shooting happened while the train was out of service and Metropolitan Transportation Agency (MTA) staff prepared to send it back to Manhattan.
The unidentified man escaped from the train moments after he shot Stein. There were two or three other passengers on the train at the time, but security records did not show them in the same car as the two men.
“I would like to emphasize that this is not an accidental event. No other passengers were in danger, “Suffolk Lt. Kevin Beirr told reporters at a news conference.
None of the men paid for their ticket and they had no money for them.
Authorities did not say the motive for the shooting and said it was an isolated incident. No one was injured or killed. Police also said there was no “indication” the shooting was gang-related.
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Yousef Stein, 20, of Western Babylon, Long Island, was fatally shot at Ronconcoma Station at about 1:45 a.m. on Feb. 16, just minutes before the train left for New York Penn Station.
The unidentified man pulled a pistol from his pocket and shot Stein in the back of the head
The two were reportedly traveling together and police did not believe the shooting was gang-related. The two men are suspected of being homeless because neither reportedly had any money and fled to pay the train fee.
The Ronkonkoma train was delayed until about 3.15am as police investigated the scene.
MTA Police and Suffolk County are conducting a joint investigation.
Stein’s mother Pamela Usher wrote a tribute to her son on Facebook. She wrote: ‘[Facebook] friends and family, the hardest post I’ve ever had to do in my life! My son, Yousef Stein, 20, was brutally murdered last week on the Long Island Railroad.
She also asked anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers.
Stein’s funeral service will be at the Hollywood Baptist Church in Amityville on Friday and will begin at 9 a.m. Stein will be buried in the cemetery in northern Babylon, his mother said.
DailyMail.com tried to contact the Suffolk County Police Department.
Neighborhood Long Island New York is experiencing a huge wave of crime, especially transit crime, which has risen 65 percent and is also run by the MTA.
A recent MTA study also found that half of bus passengers in the Bronx and a growing number on Staten Island avoid fares and ride for free – costing the MTA $ 65 million in three months for the bus system alone. Tax evasion also cost the agency $ 41 million for the subway for the months of October to December.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, 61, recently announced a subway security plan that includes an attack on tax evasion, removing homeless people from the subway at night, and boosting public safety at stations and trains.
Adams, a former transit police officer who took office last month and recently considered the subway dangerous, said Friday that allowing people to live on the subway was “cruel and inhumane” to them and unfair to other riders and transit workers.
“You’re not doing what you want anymore,” Adams told a news conference at a subway station in Lower Manhattan. “Those days are over.” Drag your MetroCard, control the system, get down to your destination. That’s what this administration says.
“People are telling me about their fear of using the system,” Adams said Friday. “And we will ensure that fear is not the reality in New York.”
The death of a 20-year-old man is being investigated by Suffolk County Police and MTA Police
The funeral will be held Friday at the Hollywood Baptist Church
The plan, which is considered essential for the recovery of New York from the COVID-19 pandemic, also includes changes that should link more homeless people, many of whom have mental illness, substance abuse problems or both, to mental health and permanent housing.
Adams’ plan includes sending more police officers, mental health clinicians and social workers to the subways. Levy said on Monday that “phased” implementation is beginning.
The plan notes that more than 1,000 homeless people using subways for shelter need help, not handcuffs, but police will have a zero-tolerance policy. They will struggle with sleeping, throwing garbage, smoking, using drugs or hanging around the system. He called for the release of all passengers from trains at the ends of their lines, an approach that has increased and decreased over the years.
“The MTA, which runs the metro, ‘knows that there are people in the metro system who need help and they will and will be helped. But they can’t stay in the subway system, “spokesman Aaron Donovan said Monday.
Five transit incidents occurred on Sunday alone, with a 31-year-old man stabbed and a 46-year-old stabbed several times in another incident.
The New York subway carries more than 5 million passengers on an average weekday before the coronavirus pandemic; the average for weekdays is now about three million.