On the New York City subway, Bernhard Goetz, a 37-year-old white male, shoots four young Black men after they surround him and ask for $5. Goetz later stated that, after wounding three of the unarmed men, he pointed his gun at 18-year-old Darrell Cabey, who was not wounded but cowering terrified in the subway car, and said, “You don’t look too bad, here’s another.” Goetz then shot Cabey in the back, severing his spinal cord. Three of the youths recovered, but Cabey was paralyzed and suffered permanent brain damage.
Goetz, who fled the scene of the crime, turned himself in to police in New Hampshire nine days later. During his subsequent interrogation, Goetz admitted on videotape that when one of the threatening young men smirked at him, he wanted to “kill them all.” The racially motivated shooting caused considerable controversy in New York and around the country, especially after Goetz pleaded innocent to charges of attempted murder in the subsequent criminal trial.
Goetz’s lawyers argued that the men were trying to rob him and that he was only acting in self-defense, while the prosecution maintained that the four young men were merely panhandling. The case proved particularly divisive in New York City, where racial tensions were high. In 1987, Goetz was cleared of murder and assault charges, but was convicted of illegal gun possession and served 250 days in prison. In April 1996, Darrell Cabey won a civil lawsuit against Goetz and was awarded $43 million by a Bronx jury. Goetz declared bankruptcy soon after the rulings.
On the 27th anniversary of the attack, one of the four victims, James Ramseur, took his own life in a Bronx motel room.
In 2001, Goetz made an unsuccessful bid for New York City mayor. In 2013 he was charged with trying to sell marijuana to an undercover police officer. The charges were dismissed by a judge in September 2014 for lack of a speedy trial.
