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CBS2 Classics: Bernie Goetz, 'Subway Vigilante'

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Dec 21, 2005 4:00 pm US/Eastern

CBS2 Classics: Bernie Goetz, 'Subway Vigilante'

By Philip O'Brien
NEW YORK (CBS) ― Dec. 22, 1984 - Four black teenagers are shot by a white man who thought they were mugging him aboard a moving subway train. The "Subway Vigilante" had struck, and within a week Bernie Goetz was a part of New York City folklore.

The four teens--- Barry Allen, Troy Canty, James Ramseur and Darrell Cabey -- later admitted they boarded the No. 2 train to go downtown to rob video game machines in arcades at Times Square. That's why they were carrying screwdrivers, they said.

Click here to watch a CBS 2 Classic about the hunt for the Subway Shooter in 1984.

Goetz got on the same train at 14th Street and sat down. Within seconds, two of the teens came up to Goetz. They said they asked him for $5. Goetz said they demanded the money. He pretended at first not to hear them and when they repeated themselves, he pulled out a .38 Smith & Wesson five-shot and started firing.

Bullets struck all four teens. Looking around the car, Goetz went up to Cabey on the bench seat and, he later admitted, said: "You don't look too bad, here's another." But the gun was empty. All four men survived; Cabey was paralyzed for life.

At first, the gunman was unknown. He told the train conductor the teens had tried to mug him, then he ran away.

For days, the story gripped the city and many were afraid he would strike again. But others started to call the mystery shooter a hero.

To share your recollections of the Subway Vigilante, send us an e-mail click here.

Click here to watch a CBS 2 Classic about how New Yorkers reacted to the Subway Shooter in 1984.

Goetz rented a car and drove to Vermont where he buried the gun. On Dec 31, 1984, he turned himself into police in Concorde, New Hampshire. By then, New York police were already suspicious of him because he matched the description, lived near the crime scene and seemed to have disappeared.

Click here to watch a CBS 2 Classic about Bernhard Goetz turning himself in to police in New Hampshire.

By now, everyone in New York was talking about the quiet-looking man with eyeglasses who stood accused of shooting down four young men.

Click here to watch a CBS 2 Classic about Bernhard Goetz returning in police custody to New York.

Goetz was becoming a folk hero to many and a brutish vigilante to others. Whatever one thought, he was the talk of New York.

Click here to watch a CBS 2 Classic about New Yorkers reacting to Bernhard Goetz in 1984.

Back on 14th Street where Goetz lived, his neighbors praised him as a "quiet guy" who was trying to help the area get rid of drugs.

Click here to watch a CBS 2 Classic about where Bernie Goetz lived and worked what others thought of him.

Goetz was acquitted at trial of the shooting but was convicted of illegal weapon possession. He was sentenced to one year in prison and served eight months.

As for the teens, three of them were convicted of violent crimes after the original incident. Cabey remains confined to a wheelchair.

The name Bernie Goetz still evokes passionate responses from people who remember the case. Goetz is mentioned in several pop tunes, including Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire," and "Why Do You Think They Call It Dope?" by LLCool J, and "Clan in Da Front" by Wu Tang Clan. He's also mentioned in Malcolm Gladwell's book "The Tipping Point."

(© MMV, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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