Florida Man Carries AR-15 Style Rifle Into Subway, Gets Arrested: NYPD

New York City NY

16 May, 2022

2:01 PM

Description

NEW YORK CITY — A Florida man toted an AR-15 style rifle and a loaded handgun into a Lower Manhattan subway station, police said. NYPD transit cops arrested Yasmany Lopez, 25, of Miami, and confiscated weapons during a May 14 incident at Grand Street station, authorities said. Lopez faces a long string of felony and misdemeanor counts relating to weapon possession, according to court files. The incident unfolded just hours before a gunman shot and killed 10 people inside a Buffalo supermarket in an apparent act of racist violence. NYPD officials told Patch they're still investigating the motivation behind the subway incident. But that didn't stop Mayor Eric Adams — who has been pushing for more police on the subways — from drawing a parallel with the Buffalo mass shooting. "As New York State mourned one tragedy yesterday, the quick thinking and courage of New York's Finest stopped another in its tracks," he tweeted Sunday. The subway incident unfolded as transit officers conducted a station inspection about 11 a.m., officials said. They saw a man — Lopez — near a booth carrying what they recognized as a rifle carrying, authorities said. When they asked Lopez what was inside the bag, he admitted he was carrying a gun, police said. They found he also carried a loaded handgun, authorities said. Police arrested Lopez and confiscated the weapons, which they displayed in a tweet. Lopez faces 12 felony and misdemeanor counts, including criminal possession of a weapon and unlawful possession of an ammo feed device, according to court files. His bail is set at $25,000 and has not yet been posted, court records show. He'll next appear in court on May 20.