Colin Ferguson

They included a reference to "the false allegations against me by the filthy Caucasian racist female on the #1 line", a reference to his February 1992 arrest.

Ferguson's notes expressed anger towards the New York State Workers' Compensation Board, Asians, Governor Mario Cuomo, and "so-called civil right leaders such as The Rev. Herbert Daughtry, C. Vernon Mason, and Calvin Butts."

They also included the names and telephone numbers of the Lt. Governor, the Attorney General, and the Manhattan law firm that Ferguson had previously threatened, whom he referred to as "those corrupt 'black' attorneys who not only refuse to help me but tried to steal my car".

On December 7, 1993, a mass shooting occurred aboard a Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) train in Garden City Park, New York, United States.

As the train arrived at the Merillon Avenue station, passenger Colin Ferguson began firing at other passengers with a semi-automatic pistol.

Six of the victims were killed and nineteen others were wounded before Ferguson was tackled and held down by other passengers on the train.

Ferguson's trial was noted for a number of unusual developments, including his dismissing his defense counsel, insisting on representing himself and questioning his victims on the stand.

On December 7, 1993, Colin Ferguson purchased a ticket for the 5:33 p.m. eastbound train at the Flatbush Avenue station in Brooklyn, New York, which stopped at the Jamaica station in Queens.

He boarded the third car of the eastbound Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) commuter train from Penn Station to Hicksville, along with more than eighty other passengers.

He sat on the southwestern end of the car, carrying a Ruger P89 semi-automatic pistol and a canvas bag filled with 160 rounds of ammunition.

As the train approached the Merillon Avenue station in Garden City Park, Long Island, Ferguson drew the gun, dropped several cartridges on the ground, stood up, and opened fire at random.

During the next three minutes, he killed six people and injured another nineteen.

Some passengers mistook the gunshots for caps or fireworks until a woman shouted, "He's got a gun! He's shooting people!"

Ferguson walked east (forward) on the train, pulling the trigger steadily about every half second.

Several passengers tried to hide beneath their seats, while others fled to the eastern end of the train and tried to enter the next car.

Ferguson walked down the aisle of the train and shot people to his right and left as he passed each seat, briefly facing each victim before firing.

An article in The New York Times called Ferguson's actions "as methodical as if he were taking tickets."

Ferguson said, "I'm going to get you," over and over as he walked down the aisle.

Other passengers farther away in the train did not realize that a shooting had occurred until after the train stopped, as a crowd of panicked passengers fled from the third car into neighboring cars.

One man appeared annoyed by their unruliness and said, "Be calm," before they forced a train door open and fled into the station.

Two people were injured in the stampede of passengers.

The train's conductor was informed of the shooting, but he decided against opening the train doors right away because two of the cars were not yet at the platform.

An announcement was made ordering conductors not to open the doors, but engineer Thomas Silhan climbed out the window of his cab and opened each door from the outside so that panicked passengers could escape.

Ferguson had emptied two 15-round magazines during the shooting.

While he was reloading his third magazine, somebody yelled, "Grab him!"

Passengers Michael O'Connor, Kevin Blum, and Mark McEntee tackled him and pinned him to one of the train's seats.

Several other passengers ran forward to grab his arms and legs and helped to pin him across a three-seat row with his head towards the window and legs towards the aisle.

While he was pinned, Ferguson said, "Oh God, what did I do? What did I do? I deserve whatever I get."

He also repeatedly pleaded with those holding him, "Don't shoot me. I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Five to six people continued to hold him pinned for several minutes while they awaited relief.

Andrew Roderick, an off-duty LIRR police officer who was picking up his wife from the train, then boarded the train and handcuffed him.

Police detectives later said it appeared Ferguson had been planning the shooting for more than a week.

LIRR police chief Joseph Flynn said, "This was the work of a deranged, maniacal person who for a variety of reasons decided to explode."

None of Ferguson's victims were Black, although it was unclear whether any other Black passengers were aboard the train.

Ferguson showed no emotion as he sat in the back of a police car, which some passengers said was as shocking and disturbing as the violence of the shooting itself.

Upon seeing Ferguson, one of the victims became hysterical and shouted, "How can he be sitting there so calm after everything he did?"

Police found pieces of notebook paper in Ferguson's pockets with scribbled notes with the heading "reasons for this".

One of the notes referred to "racism by Caucasians and Uncle Tom Negroes".

He was convicted in February 1995 on six counts of murder and nineteen counts of attempted murder, and sentenced to life imprisonment.

He is currently incarcerated at Great Meadow Correctional Facility, with an earliest possible release date of August 6, 2309.