After bullets flew, NYC subway workers kept their cool

NEW YORK (AP) — When smoke bombs and bullets were unleashed on a subway full of morning commuters as it crawled toward a stop in Brooklyn, the train’s driver, David Artis, couldn’t hear the shots.

His first indication something was wrong was when passengers crowded near the door to his operator’s compartment to report chaos, one car back.

Artis said after a moment of shock, his thoughts quickly shifted from, “Oh my God!” to concern for his passengers.

He leaned on his emergency training.

“Then it kicked in. Get them out,” he said Friday after he and fellow transit workers were honored by the mayor for their response to Tuesday’s shooting.

In a few minutes of lightning-quick decisions, Artis and train conductor Raven Haynes radioed in the attack, threw open the train doors and evacuated all of the passengers to another train on the same platform, then began getting aid to the wounded.