Bernie Goetz’s Shooting Victim Found Dead
A man who was shot and wounded by New York subway vigilante Bernhard Goetz was reportedly found dead in a suspected suicide, 27 years to the day since the famous incident.
James Ramseur, now 45, was found in his room in a seedy Bronx motel with two empty bottles of pills by his side, the New York Post reported.
Police suspect Ramseur, who has been in and out of jail in recent years, killed himself, the Daily News reported.
Ramseur and three buddies were riding a downtown No. 2 train when they walked up to the bespectacled Goetz and asked for $5 on December 22, 1984.
The teens said they were only panhandling. Goetz claimed they were trying to rob him, pulled out a gun and opened fire, wounding them.
Frustrated with then-rising crime, some called him a hero. Others said he was racist since all four victims were black.
A jury acquitted Goetz on most charges, although he did serve several months for weapons possession.