NYPD Searching for Suspect Who Pushed a Woman Into a Moving Subway Train

A young woman was pushed into a moving subway train in Manhattan on Wednesday afternoon

New York City police are searching for a suspect who allegedly pushed a woman off a Manhattan subway platform.

On Wednesday, a 30-year-old woman was pushed into a moving E southbound subway train at the 53rd Street/Fifth Avenue station platform around noon before heading either to or from her place of work, an NYPD spokesperson tells PEOPLE.

The subway station was shut down after the incident, causing delays.

The unidentified woman is in critical condition at Cornell Medical Center, announced Michael Kemper, the Police Department’s chief of transit, said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

Related: 2-Year-Old Boy Struck and Killed by NYC Subway Train After Slipping Away from Mother on Platform

"As the train was pulling out of the station, she was pushed, causing her head to strike the moving train. The train departed the station, and then she fell onto the roadbed, onto the tracks," Kemper said. "Fortunately, there were eyewitnesses, and good Samaritans that were on that platform that helped her up back off the roadbed onto the platform.”

Police identified the suspect as Sabir Jones, 39, Kemper said. Jones fled the scene on foot, leaving the station at the turnstiles by West 53rd Street and 5th Avenue, police said.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. 

During the press conference, Kemper would not offer information about Jones’ “priors,” but said he is "known to us in the subway system.” The MTA station’s video surveillance, witnesses and “Good Samaritans” helped identify the suspect and helped the victim, Kemper said.

According to witnesses, the suspect was speaking to himself before he pushed the woman, reports The New York Times. The Bowery Residents’ Committee, which provides homeless outreach services on the subway, has seen Jones on multiple occasions as part of the committee’s outreach practices, according to a person who received access to Jones’ social service records, reports the Times.

Related: NYC Subway Rider Dies After Getting Caught in Closing Doors, Dragged and Struck by Oncoming Train

During Wednesday's press conference, MTA Chair Janno Lieber said that the public transit department has made “tremendous progress on subway crime.”

According to the NYPD, there have been 15 incidents of people being pushed onto the subway tracks so far in 2023, while at this time last year, there were 22 incidents, reports WABC.

“Crime is 9% down from where it was before COVID,” Lieber said. “But that's no consolation to the family of this young woman. That's no consolation at all.” He shared the MTA’s sympathies with the victim, her family, and the New Yorkers who are “trying to live their lives.”

“We're going to fight to make sure that the mental health system and the people who are responsible for evaluating the condition of these people, who are having a disproportionate impact on the public space,” he said of those struggling with mental illness. “We feel for them, but we need for them to get into treatment and out of the public space.”

Related: Teen Dies After Falling onto N.Y.C. Subway Tracks as Train Was Approaching: ‘Freak Accident’

“The subways are what makes New York possible. It's the only way we could live at this density. And part of the greatness of New York is all this face-to-face interaction,” Lieber said. “But when things like this happen, we have to double down and work even harder to protect New York."

Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.