Alleged Penn Station shooter cuffed for wounding bystander with stray bullet

Manhattan detectives picked up a Brooklyn man Thursday morning on charges that he fired a shot during an argument outside Penn Station that wound up striking an innocent bystander on Monday afternoon.

Marvin Bruce, 27, of Prospect Place in Weeksville faces charges of assault, attempted assault and criminal possession of a weapon for the Aug. 23 shooting near the corner of West 31st Street and 7th Avenue in the heart of the afternoon rush hour.

Law enforcement sources said Bruce allegedly got into a dispute at about 5:42 p.m. Monday with an unidentified individual inside Penn Station which eventually spilled out onto the street. It’s believed that the argument initially broke out over food, while the suspect’s foe was eating in the station.

Outside of the transit hub near the New Jersey Transit entrance, cops said, Bruce allegedly pulled out a firearm and pulled the trigger on his foe. However, the shot went astray and instead struck the leg of a 58-year-old man walking through the area. 

Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, on Monday, said the victim had nothing to do with the argument, and was merely walking through the area on his way to meet his wife. EMS units rushed the victim to Bellevue Hospital for treatment of injuries that were not considered life-threatening.

The suspect, meanwhile, fled the scene in an unknown direction. Police froze off parts of the area immediately around Penn Station following the shooting in search of the suspect, but to no avail.

Detectives ultimately linked Bruce to the crime through a firearm found in a nearby trash can, according to WABC-TV. Police sources did not have immediate details as to where and how Bruce was apprehended.