December 1984. Four black youths in a crowded New York subway surround a thin white man. They ask him for $5.00 so they can play video games.
Without saying a word, Bernhard Goetz pulls out a .38 revolver and shoots each one in rapid succession. He then checks the first three to see that they are “taken care of,” in his words.
When he comes to the fourth one, Goetz doesn’t see any blood. So he says, “You don’t look too bad, here’s another.” The bullet strikes 19-year-old Darrell Cabey in the spinal cord, paralyzing him.