1993 Long Island Rail Road shooting

For the Canadian actor, see Colin Ferguson (actor).

Colin Ferguson
File:Colin-Ferguson-mugshot.jpg Mugshot of Colin Ferguson
Location	Long Island Railroad, Long Island, New York
Date	December 7, 1993
Target	Commuters
Attack type	mass murder, massacre
Weapons	Ruger P-89 9mm pistol
Deaths	6
Injured	19
Perpetrators	Colin Ferguson

Colin Ferguson (born January 14, 1958, Kingston, Jamaica) was convicted of murdering six people and injuring nineteen others on the Long Island Rail Road in Garden City, New York on December 7, 1993. As the train pulled into the Merillon Avenue Station, Ferguson pulled out his gun and started firing at passengers. He killed six and wounded nineteen before being stopped by three of the passengers: Kevin Blum, Mark McEntee, and Mike O'Connor. Ferguson's trial was notable for a number of unusual developments, including his firing of his defense counsel and insisting on representing himself and examining himself as a live witness.

Trial

Ferguson's defense team had proposed an innovative defense that he had been driven to temporary insanity by black rage, and that he should not be held criminally liable, even though he had committed the killings. However, Ferguson insisted that he had not committed the shootings and chose to represent himself. Ferguson's attorney was quoted in the Associated Press (August 12, 1994) as saying,

"Without a psychiatric defense, Ferguson has no defense. There was no doubt that he was there, that he fired the weapon, that he would have fired it more if he had not been wrestled to the ground. There is no doubt that Colin Ferguson, if sane, was guilty."

Before the trial, William M. Kunstler and Ronald L. Kuby attempted to argue that Ferguson was driven to mental illness through years of living in an oppressive and racist society. They argued that Ferguson's insistence on representing himself and not pleading insanity demonstrated his psychological incompetence to stand trial. This position was rejected by the presiding judge Donald E. Belfi. Ferguson was found competent to stand trial at the Nassau County Court, and allowed to represent himself.

A 2002 book by trial consultant Mark C. Bardwell and criminal justice professor Bruce A. Arrigo examined the competency issues in the Ferguson case.

Ferguson's trial proved to be bizarre as he would be cross examining the police that arrested him and victims he shot. It was broadcast live by local media and Court TV, but was constantly overshadowed by the O.J. Simpson murder case going on simultaneously on the west coast.

Ferguson argued that the 93 counts he was charged with were related to the year 1993, and had it been 1925 he would've been charged with only 25 counts. He admitted bringing the gun onto the train, but claimed that he fell asleep, and another man grabbed his gun and began firing. He also argued that a mysterious man named Mr. Su had information concerning a conspiracy against him. He also found another man who was willing to testify that the government implanted a computer chip in Ferguson's brain, but at the last minute decided not to call him to the stand. His cross examination questions mostly started with "Is it your testimony..." and would simply force the witness to repeat testimony already given. When a witness refused to answer the question to his satisfaction he would often ask the judge to "admonish the witness to answer the question". Legal experts pointed out that Ferguson's questions were pointless and were not geared towards rebutting testimony. By not recognizing when to object to testimony and closing arguments, he would lose his right to appeal on those grounds. Among the defense witnesses Ferguson requested was President Bill Clinton. After his conviction, he was put in the unenviable position to argue in appellate briefs that he had incompetent counsel (himself).

Ferguson was convicted on February 17, 1995 of murder for the death of the six passengers who died of their injuries:

• Amy LoCicero Federici
• James Gorycki
• Mikyung Kim
• Theresa Magtoto
• Dennis McCarthy
• Richard Nettleton

He was also convicted of attempted murder for wounding nineteen passengers during the mass murder. He received six consecutive life sentences, along with the judge's promise that "Colin Ferguson will never return to society, and will spend the rest of his natural life in prison." At the sentencing, Judge Donald E. Belfi called Ferguson a "selfish, self-righteous coward." He also used the sentencing as an opportunity to criticize New York's controversial Sentencing Cap Law, which would have capped Ferguson's sentence at 50 years had no one died in the massacre because all of the felonies he committed on the train were part of one occurrence, therefore all sentences would have been served concurrently and capped at 50 years. Only because at least one person died, did he become eligible for a life sentence rendering the cap law moot.

Ferguson is currently serving his sentence at the Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York.

Aftermath

Carolyn McCarthy, whose husband Denis McCarthy was killed by Ferguson, and whose son, Kevin McCarthy, was severely injured, was subsequently elected to the United States Congress on a platform of gun control. She was motivated to run for Congress after the representative in her district Dan Frisa voted against an assault weapons bill. She had good name recognition and was able to overcome the stigma of being a "one issue candidate" in part due to Frisa's uninspired campaign which consisted almost exclusively of bulk mailings to his district. Some of Ferguson's other victims and their family members have also become involved in gun control efforts.

Gun rights advocates frequently cite the Ferguson attack on the commuter train as an example of the danger of disarming the population, arguing that Ferguson was able to shoot as many victims as he did because no other person on the train was able to return fire; New York has some of the strictest gun control laws in the United States and concealed carry permits are rarely issued in the New York City/Long Island area.

Most of the regular commuters who used the 5:33 Hicksville Local returned to the train the day after the shootings. Interviewed by the media, a number cited the need to face their fears and the trauma created by the crimes rather than avoid riding their regular train.

The railroad did not discontinue the scheduled train or alter its schedule after the shootings, and the 5:33 Hicksville Local continues to operate as of September 2007. The car (M3 9891) in which the shootings occurred was refurbished and renumbered (to 9945). Ferguson was the subject of a Saturday Night Live comedy sketch in which he, portrayed by Tim Meadows, declared "I did not shoot them, they shot me" and asked witnesses questions about shooting him while they were on the stand.

During the 1993 summer excursion season the LIRR presented a dinner theater mystery, Murder on the Montauk Express, on its premier Friday evening train to the resorts of the Hamptons and Montauk. The play was not renewed after the Ferguson murders.

In 1994, Ferguson was apparently involved in a fistfight with fellow inmate Joel Rifkin. The brawl began after an argument regarding "whose killings were better."[1] Other sources say the fight was also (or perhaps only) about telephone privileges.[2]

See also

The Long Island Incident