Knife-Wielding Woman Who Attacked Subway Operator Was Recently Released Without Bail

The New York Post recently reported on a harrowing incident that a subway operator faced.

Eric Shepard, a 41-year old, train operator was a victim of a knife attack by a woman who broke into his cab while he was conducting the train last week.

Because of the shocking nature of this incident, Shepard nearly quit his job.

“Nobody has our back. It’s like we signed up to die,” Shepard stated.

“It’s like I’m alone. I really don’t think I am going back.”

The subway operator has ever reason to be worried given that his assailant has been released without bail — a growing trend taking place in New York city where criminals are being coddled by public officials.

Shepard recounted that his attacker — a 19-year-old woman by the name of Autumn Massaquoi who hails from Yonkers, according to police reports — started to kick on the door to his cab as he was operating the train on the night of May 8, 2020.

The assailant was able to break down the door and then proceeded to “lunge” at Shepard. During that time, he had to defend himself with one hand as he drove the train with the other.

“I used my right hand with my left just keeping her off of me until I could safely stop that train,” he stated.

“I am sitting under the East River and I have a knife pulled at me. If I get stabbed I am dying there is no ambulance coming.”

The female attacker was then able to shove Shepard into the back of the train, walked to the middle of the car, flashed her weapon, and ended up charging at him again.

The assailant made it inside the operator’s cab, which prompted Shepard to kick her back into the passenger section.

Shepard closed and locked his door and went on to the next station, Clark Street in Brooklyn Heights, where he sought police help.

“Once I [pulled] up to the station, I didn’t know she was hiding in the second car. I go outside the door to look down the platform and she runs back and attacks me again,” he recounted.

Although Shepard has a long-standing love of trains, this experience has made him reconsider his career.

“This was always what I wanted to do. I have always loved trains,” he stated. “This is disturbing. I haven’t slept. I’m devastated.”

The attacker escaped the scene, but was later arrested at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital in Park Slope, according to law enforcement reports. She was then released without bail.

“She was just going crazy. Something is wrong. She was screaming ‘I hate life. I hate the world,’” he stated.

“I’m not mad at her. She needs help I can’t give. My job is to move the train,” he continued. “She needs some mental health treatment or something worse is going to happen.”

MTA spokesman Tim Minton described the incident “despicable.”

“Protecting employees and customers is why the MTA is hiring 500 police officers, and the NYPD assigned more than 1,000 officers to the subway system during overnight closing hours,” Minton declared in a statement.

“The perpetrator should be aggressively prosecuted for an abhorrent attack on a front line transit hero in the middle of a pandemic.”

New York has clearly seen better days when it comes to public order.

Its latest social experiments in criminal justice reform are incentivizing crime and creating a sense of social disorder.

Matters are made worse when considering that New York gun control laws are among the worst in the nation. The state is ranked in 51st place according to Guns & Ammo magazine’s rankings for most gun-friendly states in the country.

Law-abiding New Yorkers essentially cannot defend themselves adequately as their state government promotes policies that let criminals roam the streets and have there way with innocent individuals.

Shepard may be correct in his instincts to search for another profession.

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