NEW YORK — The subway operator who drove the N train Tuesday as a crazed gunman opened fire on straphangers said the attack could have been much worse if a rider had pulled the emergency brake cord.
David Artis was the first person to call in the shooting on the train as it crawled northbound between the 59th and 36th Street stations in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The train was moving slowly — about 5 or 10 mph — due to congestion on the tracks ahead, he said.
“The riders were knocking on my cab door like they wanted information or directions, but to us that’s an everyday thing,” said Artis, a 14-year transit veteran who’s driven trains for four years. “I had to stop for a red signal, I looked back and saw what was going on and called it in.”
