NYC subway shooting witness says ‘terrifying’ ordeal says she didn’t know if she would survive: ‘Worst fear’
A straphanger said being caught up in this week’s horrifying shooting on a packed A-train was every New Yorker’s “worst fear.”
Alanie Aucoin-Jackson, 30, was sitting at the end of the train car Thursday when the deadly fight between DaJuan Robinson and Younce Obuad erupted.
“It was terrifying just because I didn’t know if this was going to be my final moments. I didn’t know when it was going to stop honestly. With all the chaos with all these people, you just never know,” Aucoin-Jackson told The Post through tears during an interview in her Brooklyn apartment.
The nanny said the harrowing experience, which left Robinson clinging to life after being shot through the head with his own gun, has left her traumatized and afraid of the city she calls home.
“Extremely anxious. My ears are ringing. It stopped today. I haven’t been able to eat honestly,” Aucoin-Jackson said.
“It’s hard to move forward when it’s a real possibility that it can happen any day to anyone.”
Aucoin-Jackson first recounted the nightmare experience to NewsNation’s Ashleigh Banfield, stating “As a New Yorker, it’s your worst fear that this can happen.”
Aucoin-Jackson was riding the northbound A-train to work when she witnessed Robinson begin harassing Obuad, who police sources said the crazed man likely took for an illegal immigrant.
The Brooklynite moved to another train car before the altercation turned physical and plugged in her headphones in an attempt to “channel out the chaos” — until a frenzy of other commuters pushed through the small connecting door into her car as the train was pulling into the A/C Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets station.
After a few moments, even more people rushed in.
“I was like, ‘what’s going on?’ and I hear ‘pop, pop, pop!’ … People started running and stampeding and talking about how he has a gun,” she continued.
“I immediately dropped and then hid under the seats.”
Aucoin-Jackson, who captured video of the disturbing rush-hour scuffle, assumed the gunman was an active shooter who was “coming for blood.”
The nanny and her entire train car feared for their lives, thinking they were next.
“The train was packed. Everyone was trying to hide. There were people behind me trying to get under too. People were just on top of each other, huddled up and hugging each other,” she said.
“I didn’t want to look because I didn’t want to be his next victim. I didn’t want him to see me. At that moment, I didn’t want to exist. I just wanted it to be over … It was terrifying honestly.”
Fortunately, police swarmed the bloody train car within seconds of the gunfire and arrested Obuad, a 32-year-old father of two.
He had managed to wrestle the gun away from Robinson, 36, and fired four shots at the apparent agitator: twice in the right side of his face —including through his eye — once in the neck and another time in the chest.
Aucoin-Jackson said she saw Obuad being detained after the ordeal and that he looked “stressed out” but didn’t say a word while cuffed.
Robinson is still in critical condition from the injuries, but prosecutors declined to charge Obuad with the shooting, stating he had acted in self-defense.
Investigators said Robinson began verbally attacking the father-of-two when he boarded the train at Nostrand Avenue, which quickly escalated into a physical altercation.
At one point a woman stabbed Robinson in the back, enraging him, video shows.
That’s when Robinson pulled out the .380 Ruger and charged at Obuad, who grabbed the weapon as frantic straphangers fled for their lives.
Robinson remains hospitalized in critical condition — and prosecutors are mulling criminal charges against him.
“He wanted a fight the day he wanted to use his gun because why else would he have it and pick a fight with a random person,” said Aucoin-Jackson.
“I just felt like he wanted to pick a fight and unfortunately he met his own demise.”
Obuad was not charged, with the Brooklyn DA’s office saying it found “evidence of self-defense” in the case.
The terrifying incident has put Aucoin-Jackson on high alert — she has not set foot on a train in the three days since and has kept her headphones out of her ears.
A step-by-step breakdown of what happened in the Brooklyn subway shooting
“I’m just very aware of the people around me and the ones coming on the car and who is already on the car. If people act shifty, I just try to distance myself and maintain my calmness,” she said.
Gov. Hochul’s deployment of the National Guard in the Big Apple subway system has also done little to quell her concerns — only NYPD officers responded to the shooting.
The new policy — which was put into place days before the shooting — calls for hundreds of National Guardsmen to conduct bag checks on commuters before they are able to enter transit hubs.
“I think it could be helpful yes but he didn’t even have a bag. It was in his coat. If you don’t have a bag, they’re not checking you. How would you know? And clearly he was able to do what he did,” Aucoin-Jackson said.
