Stun gun incident causes stampede after NJ Transit train gets stuck in tunnel

NEW YORK — A NJ Transit train with about 1,200 passengers became stuck in a tunnel between New York and New Jersey for nearly three hours Friday, with scene escalating to pandemonium when Amtrak police used a stun gun to subdue a disruptive man in a station, sparking a stampede, the Asbury Park Press reports.

The overcrowded train station erupted in panic when Amtrak police used a Taser to subdue a man who was causing a disturbance. New York police said the use of the Taser led to false rumors of gunshots at the station. People screamed and ran, resulting in 16 people suffering non-life-threatening injuries.

The loss of power in the tunnel caused delays of an hour or more on Amtrak and NJ Transit trains. This latest incident happened three weeks after the derailment of an Amtrak train at Penn Station and a week after a NJ Transit derailment shut down eight of 21 tracks there and disrupted travel in the region for days. For the full story, click here.