Colin Ferguson is a name that still sends a chill down the spines of Long Islanders. On December 7, 1993 he opened fire on a Long Island Rail Road train as it was coming in to the Merillon Avenue stop in Garden City Park on its way east from Manhattan.
Ferguson was a Jamaican immigrant who had trouble fitting in to life in the United States. As his personal life became more unhinged became more disturbed. His wife had recently divorced him. In 1992, had been arrested after a violent outburst directed at a woman on a New York City subway car. Ferguson’s recent attempt to start a new life in California had ended in failure. While in California he had purchased a Ruger P89 9mm pistol for protection. Upon returning to New York, people noted that he had become more unhinged. He began talking in the 3rd person and went on racist rants, sometimes chanting “all the black people killing all the white people.” His downward spiral came to a head on that fateful December afternoon.
As the train approached the station, Ferguson stook up, pulled his pistol and began firing at random. He walked toward the front of the train, slowly firing at each person he approached. He was methodical and trancelike in his murderous spree, stating “I’m going to get you,” over and over as he walked down the aisle. He was able to reload twice while continuing to move through the train. After his second magazine emptied, someone shouted, “grab him!”. LIRR passengers Michael O’Connor, Kevin Blum, and Mark McEntee tackled Ferguson and held him down before he could reload. An off duty police officer, Andrew Roderick, came into the car with handcuffs and arrested Ferguson. When the shooting was over there were 6 dead and 19 injured.
Ferguson was indicted on numerous charges. There was some indication that racism played a role in the shootings but Ferguson’s ramblings were too incoherent to place a motive on the act. The judge in the case refused to allow a plea bargain and Ferguson went to trial. He fired his attorneys, Ron Kuby and William Kunstler, and represented himself. He will be spending the rest of his life in prison.
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