One straphanger caught up in this week’s horrifying shooting on a packed A-train said she thought it might have been her “final moments.”
Alanie Aucoin-Jackson, 30, was heading to work when she overheard a loud argument inside the subway car.
“And then, the train approaches Hoyt and the doors finally open and I immediately hear gunshots,” Aucoin-Jackson told NewsNation’s Ashleigh Banfield.
“And in that moment, it just felt like it was life or death, and everybody just started to run and stampede and the first thing I could think of was to immediately get on the subway floor and hide underneath the seats because there’s too many people.”
Aucoin-Jackson, who lives in Brownsville, said she immediately thought the worst.
“At this point, I had no idea whether or not it was someone in a mass shooting or if it was a personal attack on him,” she said.
“I had no idea if it would continue or if it had stopped because I heard multiple shots and people got hurt, stepped on. It was terrifying honestly, and I started recording because I had no idea if these would be my final moments. As a New Yorker, it’s your worst fear that this can happen.”
A step-by-step breakdown of what happened in the Brooklyn subway shooting
Aucoin-Jackson, who captured video of the disturbing rush-hour scuffle, told Banfield she cowered beneath her seat as gunshots erupted.
“People were screaming, and everyone was trying to call 911,” she said.
“I still tear up kind of like thinking of that because I started to record because I didn’t know if this would be my last moment. And it’s such a weird feeling to then come out of it … I probably stayed underneath that seat for like 15 minutes because I couldn’t not come out until the police officers told us because I was shaking.”
Aucion-Jackson, could not be reached for further comment Saturday.