WILLIAMSBURG BRIDGE – A 14-YEAR-OLD BOY was killed on Friday while riding on top of a Brooklyn-bound J train headed over the Williamsburg Bridge, and an 18-year-old was critically injured, reports Spectrum News.
First responders declared Akhi Butler, 14, dead at the scene, while the other teen was hospitalized in critical condition. A video of the incident posted online appears to show one of the teens being struck in the head with a beam, before the other falls to the tracks.
Officials, including Mayor Zohran Mamdani and New York City Transit President Demetrius Crichlow released statements calling the tragedy heartbreaking and preventable, imploring New Yorkers, parents and peers to keep kids off of trains.
Butler’s family also spoke out, with relatives begging other teens for an end to the dangerous stunts: “Just stop! Stop! You can get [attention] somehow, someway, another way that’s more safer. That is not it at all. And most of the times it ends up tragically,” cousin Sharean Butler said.
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