First Subway Murder in ’25: Killer Flees City Hall Station After Stabbing Man on Platform

At the height of the morning rush hour on Friday, April 25, a 38-year-old man from Brooklyn died after being stabbed multiple times on the platform of the City Hall-Brooklyn Bridge stop. It marked the first murder on the subway system so far this year, and witnesses told police that the dispute seemed to escalate when one man stepped on the sneakers of another.

While the city stats say subway crime overall is down 10 percent so far this year, the 5th Precinct, where the murder took place, has seen a slight uptick in transit crime even while aboveground crime was down nearly 10 percent.

Police responded to the scene at around 8:48am and found a man later identified as John Sheldon from Saint Edwards Street in Brooklyn with multiple stab wounds to his torso. He was rushed to Bellevue Hospital but could not be saved.

Witnesses told police the victim was acting aggressively toward the suspect, and the altercation turned deadly as passengers spilled onto the platform. Sheldon was said to have suffered at least two deep stab wounds to his torso.

The stabber, who is believed to be in his 30s, fled the scene and no arrests have been made NYPD. At least one witness drove with police to try to locate the stabber, but to no avail. Police later released a surveillance photo of the suspect, wearing a black hoodie and jeans with a short, scruffy beard. He was said to be wearing black Beats headphones at the time of the attack.

In a NYPD press conference on April 3, Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch praised the city’s policing efforts.

“Our precision policing strategies aren’t just working—they’re delivering historic results and making New York City the safest big city in the nation,” she said. But a week later, when she unveiled the city’s new Quality of Life division, she acknowledged that even with the crime rate dropping, many New Yorkers tell her they still do not feel safe.

The year’s first subway murder comes amid a running feud between the Trump administration and the MTA. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote a letter to the MTA on March 18, urging the transit agency to address crime rates or face potential funding cuts.

“There have been a number of high-profile safety-related incidents occurring on the system,” he wrote. “The expectation is that NYCT will address this matter promptly to ensure compliance and avoid further FTA enforcement actions up to and including redirecting or withholding funding.”

The letter also says that he wants the MTA to provide a plan to reduce crime, outlining actions having to do with policing and where funding is being allocated.

Duffy recently blasted the subway system as a “shithole.” Mayor Eric Adams took the Wisconsin-born Trump official on a two-stop ride on the B train on April 4, but they pointedly did not invite MTA chairman Janno Lieber to join them on the midtown Manhattan ride. When asked by a Daily News reporter if he still considered the subway system a “shithole,” Duffy would not retract the statement. “Some would say,” he responded. The Trump administration has been trying to end the congestion-pricing toll in Midtown Manhattan, which is expected to generate about $500 million in toll revenue from cars entering bellow 60th Street. The MTA said the money generated will be used to make badly needed infrastructure repairs.