December 7, 1993: A crazed gunman shoots 25 passengers on a Long Island Rail Road commuter train, killing 6 of them. It was the worst crime ever committed on an American train, and remains so.
Armed with a Ruger P89 semi-automatic pistol, Colin Ferguson, a 35-year-old immigrant from Jamaica, boarded an eastbound train at New York's Jamaica, the neighborhood in Queens, heading for Hicksville, Nassau County. As the train pulled into Merillon Avenue station in Garden City Park, he pulled his weapon, and started firing. Several passengers managed to subdue him until an LIRR policeman was able to board the train and arrest him.
At first, Ferguson had a public defender, then fired him, and tried to represent himself. William Kunstler and Ron Kuby volunteered to represent him, but Ferguson fired them, too. Kunstler had previously represented the Chicago Seven at their conspiracy trial in 1969-70, and Doors singer Jim Morrison at his 1970 obscenity trial. Kuby, like Kunstler described as a "radical lawyer," was the left half of a politically-opposite talk show on radio station WABC, with Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa on the right.
When Ferguson was ruled competent to stand trial, Kuby told the media, "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 had he not been wrestled to the ground. There is no doubt that Colin Ferguson, if sane, was guilty."
He was convicted, on February 17, 1995. Like another infamous New York killer, David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam, he has been attacked by fellow inmates, including yet another New York murderer, serial killer Joel Rifkin. Allegedly, the fight started when Ferguson told Rifkin, "I wiped out six devils, and you only killed women." Rifkin responded, "Yeah, but I had more victims," and then, Ferguson punched Rifkin. Guards broke the fight up before a result could be determined.
One of Ferguson's victims was Dennis McCarthy. His widow, Carolyn McCarthy, ran for Congress the next year, on a gun control platform. In spite of a nationwide conservative tide, including the defeat of anti-gun Governor Mario Cuomo by George Pataki in New York State, she won, and served in Congress for 18 years.
A memorial to the victims was erected in Mineola, on Long Island. As of December 7, 2022, Ferguson is at Upstate Correctional Facility in Malone, Franklin County, New York, close to the Canadian border.
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December 7, 1993 was a Tuesday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 9 games played in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 92-78 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.
* The New Jersey Nets beat the Boston Celtics, 117-90 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.
* The Orlando Magic beat the Detroit Pistons, 91-89 at the Orlando Arena.
* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 109-100 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.
* The Indiana Pacers beat the Sacramento Kings, 105-87 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.
* The Chicago Bulls beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 115-111 at the Chicago Stadium. The Clippers' Danny Manning led all scorers on the night with 43 points.
* The Miami Heat beat the Dallas Mavericks, 106-101 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.
* The Houston Rockets beat the Charlotte Hornets, 121-102 at The Summit in Houston. Otis Thorpe scored 40 points. (The arena has since been converted into the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.")
* The Golden State Warriors beat the Denver Nuggets, 95-90 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.
And there were 6 games played in the NHL:
* The New York Islanders played the Edmonton Oilers to a tie, 4-4 at the Nassau Coliseum.
* The Calgary Flames played the Quebec Nordiques to a tie, 4-4 at the Colisée de Québec.
* The Hartford Whalers beat the Washington Capitals, 6-1 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.
* The St. Louis Blues beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-2 at the St. Louis Arena.
* The Florida Panthers beat the season's other expansion team, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 3-2 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).
* And the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the San Jose, 3-1 at the San Jose Arena (now the SAP Center).
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