Bernard Goetz

On December 22, 1984, Bernhard Goetz () shot four young men on a New York City Subway train in Manhattan after they allegedly tried to rob him.

Goetz surrendered to police nine days later and was charged with attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment, and several firearms offenses. Initially, Goetz was viewed by most as a victim and by some as a vigilante, and he received widespread public recognition and support. A grand jury refused to indict Goetz on the more serious charges, voting indictments only for criminal gun possession. However, public opinion about Goetz wavered due to statements and alleged damaging details of the incident that later were released by the prosecution. Goetz was then re-indicted by a second grand jury on more serious charges. At a later jury trial, he was found guilty of one count of carrying an unlicensed firearm, for which he served eight months of a one-year sentence. In 1996, Darrell Cabey, one of those Goetz shot and who was left paraplegic and brain damaged as a result of his injuries, obtained a civil judgment of $43 million against Goetz.

The incident sparked a nationwide debate on crime in major U.S. cities, the legal limits of self-defense based on Cabey being shot once or twice, and the extent to which the citizenry could rely on the police to secure their safety. Goetz, dubbed the "Subway Vigilante" by the New York press, came to symbolize New Yorkers' frustrations with the high crime rates of the 1980s. Goetz was both praised and vilified in the media and public opinion, and the New York criminal justice system came under increased public scrutiny and criticism. The incident has been cited as a contributing factor to the groundswell movement against urban crime and disorder, and successful National Rifle Association campaigns to loosen restrictions for concealed carrying of firearms.

Context and background

Bernhard Goetz stated that, three years before the incident, he had been attacked in the Canal Street subway station while transporting electronic equipment by three men who attempted to rob him. The attackers smashed Goetz into a plate-glass door and threw him to the ground, injuring his chest and knee. Goetz assisted an off-duty officer in arresting one of them; the other two attackers escaped. Goetz was angered when the arrested attacker spent less than half the time in the police station than the time spent by Goetz himself, and he was angered further when this attacker was charged only with criminal mischief for ripping Goetz's jacket. Goetz subsequently applied for a permit to carry a concealed handgun, on the basis of routinely carrying valuable equipment and large sums of cash, but his application was denied for insufficient need. He bought a 5-shot .38-caliber revolver during a trip to Florida.

At the time, New York City street crime received little media coverage. N.Y. Governor Mario Cuomo was considered a leading future Democratic presidential candidate. As the subway shooting made news around the world, dismal subway train images and city crime received widespread coverage, and the incident had significant political overtones.

Incident

In the early afternoon of Saturday, December 22, 1984, four young men from the Bronx, 19-year-olds Barry Allen, Troy Canty, and Darrell Cabey, and 18-year-old James Ramseur, boarded a downtown 2 train (a Broadway–Seventh Avenue express). The teenagers, each of whom had previously been arrested and convicted at least once, stated they were on their way to rob a video arcade in Manhattan. When the train arrived at the 14th Street station in Manhattan at about 1:30PM, fifteen to twenty other passengers remained with them in the R22 subway car, the seventh car of the ten-car train.

Several minutes prior, Goetz left his apartment, walking one block to this station on the way downtown to meet friends for a holiday drink. After the train entered the station, Goetz approached the rear door of the seventh train car. Canty was lying on the long bench just to the right of this door. Allen was seated to Canty's left, on the short seat on the left side of this door. Ramseur and Cabey were seated across from the door on the short seat by the conductor's cab. A female passenger was seated several feet from Canty's right.

The door opened, Goetz entered, crossed the aisle, and took a seat on the long bench across from Canty and the woman, approximately centered between them. At the same time, a male passenger sat down at Goetz's left at the far end of the bench. The doors closed and the train left for the next express stop at Chambers Street, typically a four-minute ride.

According to Goetz's statement to the Concord police department (New Hampshire), several seconds later Canty asked him, "How are you doing?" Goetz responded, "Fine." Goetz said the group gave signals to each other, and shortly thereafter Canty and Allen rose from their seats and moved over to Goetz's left, blocking him off from the other passengers in the car. Canty then said, "Give me five dollars." Goetz subsequently pulled a handgun and fired five shots at the four, wounding them all. Canty and Ramseur testified at the criminal trial that they were begging, and had only requested the money, not demanded it. Cabey did not testify and Allen took the Fifth Amendment.

Differing accounts of shooting

Sources differ in reporting the sequence of shots fired, timing of shots, and whether Cabey was shot once or twice. The following are four versions from significant or reliable sources describing the sequence of shots:

Cabey hit by the fourth shot

At the Bronx civil trial, Goetz testified the first shot was Canty, Allen second, the third shot missed, Cabey fourth, and Ramseur fifth. The following similar shooting sequence is verbatim from Goetz's website:

Goetz performed a dry fire shooting demonstration (five shots in 1.0 seconds at four hypothetical targets on both sides of him) on the Biography Channel show ''Aftermath with William Shatner''.

Multiple criminal trial witnesses testified all shots came in "rapid succession"; Criminal trial medical evidence showed Cabey was shot once in the left side, and not shot twice as had been widely reported.

Cabey hit by the fourth and fifth shots

Prior to the criminal trial, the media reported that Cabey had been hit by the fourth shot and then again by the fifth, with Goetz saying, "You don't look too bad, here's another," or, "You seem all right, here's another." This sequence of shots was discredited at the criminal trial when it was revealed that one of the five shots had missed and Cabey was shot once in the left side; however, the misconception that Cabey was shot twice occurred long after the criminal trial.

Cabey hit by the fifth shot

"Speed is everything," Goetz said in a videotaped statement made after he surrendered nine days later. He told police that while still seated, he planned a "pattern of fire" from left to right. He then stood, stepped clear of Canty, drew his revolver, turned back to Canty, and fired four shots, one at each man, then fired a fifth shot. At the civil trial years later he said, "I was trying to get as many of them as I could as quickly as I could." Other sources simply repeated Goetz's statements to New York City police as to the sequence of shots: Canty was shot first, then Allen, then Ramseur, then Cabey. In the related proceeding ''People v. Goetz'', the New York Court of Appeals summarized the incident:

"It appears from the evidence before the Grand Jury that Canty approached Goetz, possibly with Allen beside him, and stated 'Give me five dollars.' Neither Canty nor any of the other youths displayed a weapon. Goetz responded by standing up, pulling out his handgun, and firing four shots in rapid succession. The first shot hit Canty in the chest; the second struck Allen in the back; the third went through Ramseur's arm and into his left side; the fourth was fired at Cabey, who apparently was then standing in the corner of the car, but missed, deflecting instead off a wall of the conductor's cab. After Goetz briefly surveyed the train scene around him, he fired another shot at Cabey, who then was sitting on the end bench of the car. The bullet entered the rear of Cabey's side and severed his spinal cord."

According to his statements to police, Goetz checked the first two men to make sure that they had been "taken care of," then upon seeing that the fourth man, Cabey, was now sitting down rocking side to side and seemed not seriously hurt, said, "You seem to be all right, here's another," and fired another shot into Cabey's stomach. Cabey actually was shot only once in the left side, a fact not made known to Goetz or his attorneys until shortly before the trial. One bullet had missed, fragmenting on the steel cab wall behind Cabeythis missed shot would also be the basis of a charge of reckless endangerment of other passengers. After the criminal trial Goetz denied shooting the fifth bullet at Cabey, saying he had been confused by misinformation.

''Time'' Magazine's theory (April 8, 1985)

Goetz said one of the boys made gestures that may have implied he had a weapon. Canty then approached Goetz for the $5. Goetz rose and partly unzipped his jacket where the revolver was concealed, and plotted his "pattern of fire" for shooting them. Goetz asked Canty what he had said, and Canty repeated his statement. According to Canty, Goetz then unzipped his jacket the rest of the way, drew the gun, assumed a combat stance gripping the revolver with both hands, and shot Canty through the center of his body. He then turned to shoot Allen, who had tried to flee, hitting him in the back, and then shot Ramseur, wounding him in the chest and arm. He then shot again, at Cabey, but may have missed. According to Goetz he then approached Cabey and shot him on the ground; however, another witness disputed that Goetz shot Cabey a second time.

Cabey and the "here's another" statement

After the shooting Cabey was slumped in the short seat in the corner of the car next to the conductor's cab. New York Transit Museum – Goetz car was an R-22 with fiberglass seating Whether Cabey was struck by the fourth shot or by the fifth was critical to Goetz's claim of self-defense and thus an issue fiercely contested at trial. Medical experts testified that such an injury would render the lower half of Cabey's body instantly useless. According to the prosecution, the fourth shot missed; Goetz then shot the seated Cabey at point-blank range with the fifth bullet. The defense theory about how Cabey ended up in the seat described him as being standing when hit by the fourth shot, whereupon he collapsed into the seat due to the lurching and swaying of the train, with the fifth shot being the shot that missed.

A summary of Goetz's statements to the police had become public two months after the incident, drawing intense media coverage. Perhaps most damaging to Goetz's public support and to his claim of acting in self-defense was his statement that he had said, "You don't look so bad, here's another," before firing at Cabey a second time.

At trial, one witness testified that Goetz approached to within "two to three feet" of a seated Cabey, then demonstrated how Goetz stood directly in front of Cabey and fired downward shooting Cabey in the stomach, a description that matched Goetz's published statements, but contradicted medical evidence that Cabey was shot once in the left side. Eight other independent witnesses testified that all shots came in "rapid succession"; one of these said the firing lasted "about a second". None of the eight heard a pause before the final shot, and none saw Goetz standing in front of Cabey.

Whether Goetz actually said aloud the words "You don't look so bad, here's another" is still a matter of dispute. He subsequently denied making the statement on several occasions. One source said, "In all probability, the defendant uttered these words only to himself and probably not even mouthing the words, but just saying them in his own mind as he squeezed the trigger that fifth time."

Flight and surrender

The terrified passengers ran to the other end and out of the car, leaving behind two women who had been close to the shooting, immobilized by fear. According to Goetz's statements to the Concord police department, Canty was lying on the subway floor to the right of a seated woman who had remained in the same position she had been when previously seated near Canty. This woman was staring straight ahead in shock. Allen was laying on his stomach on the same bench with his head in her lap. Ramseur was slumped on the floor near the north end door of the subway car, and Cabey was slumped on the floor near him next to the conductor's cab. A second woman near the center of the subway car had fainted and was lying face down. The man who prior to the shooting was sitting on Goetz's left had exited or was in the process of exiting the car. Goetz asked the two frightened women if they had been injured and both said they were not. He then went towards the south end of the car, briefly looked around, and sat down with his head in his hands covering his eyes, occasionally looking around. Shortly afterwards the train conductor entered the car and loudly exclaimed "What's going on?" The conductor approached Goetz, still seated, and asked him what happened. Goetz pointed to the north end of the car and then told him, "I don't know ... they tried to rob me and I shot them." The conductor then went to the two women to check if they were injured. The conductor returned to Goetz and asked if he was a police officer, receiving the reply, "No." and then asked Goetz for the gun, to which he replied "No." The conductor then left the car.

Some time later the train slowed down, continued at a slow rate, and then stopped before the next station. Goetz remained seated for 15–30 seconds, and then exited the south end of the car. He climbed down to the tracks, ran north a few steps, and then reversed direction and ran south through the tunnel to the Chambers Street station, where he climbed onto the empty end of the passenger platform and then exited the station via the stairs. Later Goetz said sirens were going off everywhere. He took a cab back home to 14th Street to gather some belongings, and then rented a car and drove north to Bennington, Vermont, where he burned the blue jacket he had been wearing and dismantled the revolver, scattering the pieces in the woods north of town. He drove around New England for several days, registering at motels under various names and paying in cash.

On December 26, an anonymous hotline caller told New York City police that Goetz matched the gunman's description, owned a gun, and had been mugged previously. On December 29, Goetz called his neighbor, Myra Friedman, who told him that police had come by his apartment looking for him, and had left notes asking to be contacted as soon as possible. He gave his side of the story to Friedman, and described his psychological state at the time:

Goetz returned to New York City on December 30, turned in the car, picked up some clothing and business papers at his apartment, rented another car and drove back to New England. Shortly after noon the next day, he walked into the Concord, New Hampshire, police headquarters and told the officer on duty, "I am the person they are seeking in New York."

Statements to police

Once the officer realized that Goetz was a genuine suspect, Goetz was given a Miranda warning and he waived his right to have an attorney present. After an interview that lasted over an hour, a Concord detective asked Goetz to consent to making an audiotaped statement. Goetz agreed, and a two-hour statement was recorded. That evening, New York City detectives and an assistant district attorney arrived in Concord, and Goetz submitted to a two-hour videotaped interview. Both interviews were eventually played back for the grand juries, the criminal trial, and a civil trial years later. When the audiotape was first played in open court, Goetz was described by ''The New York Times'' as "confused and emotional, alternately horrified by and defensive about his actions, and obsessed with justifying them."

In his statements, Goetz described his past mugging, in which he was injured and the only assailant arrested went unpunished. He called New York City "lawless" and expressed contempt for its justice system, calling it a "joke," a "sham," and "a disgrace". Goetz said that when the four surrounded him on the train, he feared being "beaten to a pulp" as well as being robbed. He denied any premeditation for the shooting, something that had been speculated on by the press. Asked what his intentions were when he drew his revolver, Goetz replied, "My intention was to murder them, to hurt them, to make them suffer as much as possible." Later in the tape, Goetz said, "If I had more bullets, I would have shot 'em all again and again. My problem was I ran out of bullets." He added, "I was gonna, I was gonna gouge one of the guys' anty'seyes out with my keys afterwards", but said he stopped when he saw the fear in his eyes. At the criminal trial, Goetz's defense attorneys, Barry Slotnick and Mark M. Baker, argued that this and other extreme statements by Goetz were the product of emotion and an overactive imagination.

Goetz was brought back to Manhattan on January 3, 1985, and arraigned on four charges of attempted murder, with bail set at $50,000. He was held in protective custody at the Rikers Island prison hospital. Refusing offers of bail assistance from the public and from his family, he posted bail with his own funds and was released on bond January 8.

Early reports

Because of the loudness of the shots inside the confined space of the subway car, there were initial witness reports that suggested the gun involved was a .357 Magnum revolver. Goetz alluded to these reports in a December 2004 interview on the ''Opie and Anthony'' radio show, saying that the first shot he fired that afternoon had been unusually loud in part because it was the first shot fired by the small-frame .38 caliber revolver after the factory tests, which "cleaned the barrel."

After the incident, reports spread that Goetz had been threatened with sharpened screwdrivers. This rumor was published as fact by some media; however, neither Goetz nor the men made any such claim, and Goetz has repeatedly denied he was threatened with screwdrivers. Paramedics and police did find a total of three screwdrivers on two of the men; when Canty testified at Goetz's criminal trial, he said they were to be used to break into video arcade change boxes and not as weapons.

On February 27, 1985, the prosecutors office released evidence that Cabey had been shot twice. This was reported as fact in the media and was not corrected until the criminal trial more than a year later.

Shooter

Bernhard Hugo Goetz was born in the Kew Gardens neighborhood of New York City's Queens borough on November 7, 1947, the son of Gertrude (née Karlsberg) and Bernhard Willard Goetz, Sr. His parents were German immigrants who met in the U.S. His father was Lutheran; his mother, who was Jewish, converted to Lutheranism. While growing up, Goetz lived with his parents and three older siblings in Upstate New York, where his father ran a dairy farm and a bookbinding business. At the age of 12, he was sent to Switzerland, where he and his sister attended boarding schools. Goetz returned to the United States in 1965 for college, and earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and nuclear engineering from New York University. By this time, the family had relocated to Orlando, Florida; Goetz joined them and worked at his father's residential development business. He was briefly married. After his divorce, he moved back to New York City, where he started an electronics business out of his Greenwich Village