Today, December 7, marks the 31st anniversary of one of the LIRR’s darkest days. On December 7, 1993, the 5:33pm LIRR mainline train from Penn Station bound for Hicksville was soon to be making its routine station stop at Merillon Avenue when Colin Ferguson opened fire on the train’s passengers. By the time he was stopped by the other passengers, six people were dead and nineteen were injured. When the train made it to Merillon Avenue, passengers began to spill out (many people in the adjacent cars didn’t know what was going on until Merillon Avenue).
Luckily, an off-duty police officer who was picking up his wife apprehended Ferguson when the train reached Merillon Avenue. The incident occurred on M3 pair #9891 and #9892, and after the incident these cars were held out of service for years, before re-entering service and these cars are still roaming the rails these days, despite the M3s thinning out.
 |
Traditionally, wreaths are placed at Merillon Av
around this time of year in memory of those who
died.
|
As of recently, all of the train's crew is still alive, but all but the engineer have retired.
Legend has it that Ferguson, after boarding the train at Jamaica, waited until the train crossed over the border into Nassau County out of respect for then-outgoing Mayor David Dinkins and Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly. During his trial, Ferguson insisted on defending himself and he cross-examined the very victims he injured himself. Luckily however, at the end of the trial, he was found guilty and sentenced to 315 years and 8 months to life in prison, and he's not eligible for parol until August 6, 2309, so most likely he'll never see the light of day again.
If you'd like to learn more about this terrible tragedy, the wikipedia article is an excellent source of information.
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of this event, a documentary has also been made telling the story of the victims and families. If you'd like to see it, they have released it recently opposed to a DVD, so you can see it here
In conclusion, I think it's important to remember this event due to it's significance and for those Long Islanders, it's the worst crime on Long Island. Rest in peace to all that died on that terrible day.
