Family mourns loss of Brooklyn man killed while trying to break up subway fight
NEW YORK -- The family of a Brooklyn man shot while trying to break up a fight in a subway over the weekend is trying to cope with this huge loss as police are still looking for the shooter.
For Richard Henderson's family, his loss is unimaginable for his mother-in-law and two older brothers.
"He took this from me. He was everything. He was the man," mother-in-law Jaquetta Dockery said.
"There's never [gonna] be closure. We're still going to be grieving for the rest of our lives with this," brother Earl Henderson said.
Forty-five-year-old Richard Henderson was a father of three and a grandfather of two with the most loveable soul, his family says.
"He would take the shirt off his back and give it to you right now if he saw you walking down the block and you were cold," brother Jermaine Henderson said.
But on Sunday, his good intentions turned deadly on a subway ride after watching a football game with a friend.
"I was sitting in the living room, mother-in-law, you know, making, cracking jokes. 'I'll be back.' He didn't make it home," Dockery said.
Police say around 8:30 p.m. Sunday, on a 3 train in Crown Heights, Henderson tried to intervene when he saw two other passengers arguing about playing music too loudly. One of the passengers pulled out a gun and fired multiple shots, hitting the 45-year-old in the back and shoulder. That gunman took off.
"It's very unfair. I just want to see this man get caught because it can happen again," Dockery said.
As the family grieves, so do the students at Avenues the World School in Chelsea, where Henderson was a crossing guard, a job he loved. Always smiling, encouraging and keeping students safe.
"He remembered my name, and he remembered my brother's name even though he graduated two years ago," student Ace Meltzer said. "It's very jarring to know he is not going to be here tomorrow."
A man who his family says learned early on to defend those who need help, now gone doing what was right in his heart.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on X, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
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