A New York City grandfather who was shot dead on a subway Sunday was trying to break up a dispute between two other straphangers, the NYPD tells Fox News Digital.
Richard Henderson, 45, was riding a 3 Train through Brooklyn at around 8 p.m. on Sunday when two other passengers got into a heated argument over loud music, the NYPD said.
Henderson tried to act as a peacemaker, but in his subsequent intervention, the straphanger who was playing the music allegedly pulled out a gun and fired, striking Henderson in the back and shoulder, police said. It is unclear if the shooter was aiming at Henderson or at the man he was arguing with.
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Henderson, a diehard Philadelphia Eagles fan from Sterling Place in Crown Heights, had been on the way home from a social gathering at a friend’s house, where they were watching football. One of his pals who was with him on the train at the time said the shooter also attempted to shoot at him, according to the New York Post.
The shooter fled the train at the Rockway Avenue subway station in Brownsville while Henderson’s friend sounded the alarm, according to reports.
Police found Henderson when the train pulled into the Franklin Avenue subway station, about five stops later. It is unclear if the train made all the stops in between Franklin Avenue subway stations.
EMS responded and transported Henderson to NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He leaves behind a wife, three children and two grandchildren.
There are no arrests at this time and the investigation remains ongoing.
Henderson worked as a school crossing guard at a private school on the Upper West Side for more than a decade, his family told the New York Post.
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"We’re just shell-shocked trying to make sense of it," the victim’s brother Jermaine Henderson, 50, told the New York Daily News. "My brother, he wouldn’t hurt nobody. He would give you the shirt off his back. He would help you."
"In a situation, he would be the first one to try to help. He was just about peace and wanting everybody to get along."
Jermaine Henderson told the New York Post that his brother "died helping someone."
"That’s him! He always intervened, he always wanted peace."
The family has called for justice, and Jermaine Henderson said his brother was a devoted family man who had been with his wife for 30 years.
"They were childhood sweethearts and now she’s distraught. Their kids are crying uncontrollably.
"He was a loving father, he was a hardworking man. He took care of his grandkids and his kids.
"They’ve been together for 30 years," Henderson said of his brother’s widow.
A GoFundMe for Henderson’s family was launched on Monday by students and staff at the Avenues The World School, the private school where Henderson worked. It had generated nearly $40,000 at the time of publication.
"Richard Henderson was not only a guardian at the crosswalks of the school where he tirelessly worked; Rich was a guardian to all those lucky enough to know him," the page reads.
"Rich was a peaceful man, who never had a quarrel with the world but lost his life trying to quell one. This profound loss has left his family, friends, and community in a state of shock and grief."
