LONG ISLAND, New York (WABC) — Thursday marks 30 years since there was a deadly shooting on a Long Island Rail Road train.
A man from Brooklyn named Colin Ferguson opened fire inside the commuter train to Hicksville on December 7, 1993.
Six passengers were killed and 19 others were hurt.
Ferguson is serving a 315-year prison sentence.
Survivors of the deadly shooting are still dealing with the aftermath three decades later.
Lisa Combatti was one of 19 people wounded and, at the time, seven months pregnant.
“We have an X-ray at home that shows my spine and the baby’s spine and the bullet. And that we both survived, we’re so lucky,” she said back at the 25th anniversary of the massacre.
“Where are you right now?” Eyewitness News Reporter N.J. Burkett asked.
“I personally, I’m in a really good spot. I said, you know, I’m 30, it’s 30 years later, and you know, I’m in a great place. My family’s in a great place. My daughter is getting married next year. We’ve had 30 wonderful years that a lot of people didn’t have, and I feel grateful for that as we stand here on a New York City street, I’m still working, you know, in the city commuting back and forth,” said Lisa Combatti, a victim. “So I’m going to, I’m in a good place.”
“How is it to get on the railroad now? All these years,” Burkett asked.
“Later? You know, getting on the railroad was interesting for me. This when I think about the first time I got on the railroad after the shooting was also my first day leaving my daughter home by herself. So I think as a mother, that kind of helped me because I was more concerned about her than I was about myself,” she said. “So, I still commute from the same station from Merillon Avenue, but it was always my wish to not let what happened to me rule my life. So, I wanted to be a stronger person and I wanted to keep going. I do have some weekdays, you know, there’s some things that remind me of different things. I will say this year I finally got some closure because when the Long Island Railroad started going into Grand Central, they updated the train schedule and the 5:33 is no more.”
I will say this year I finally got some closure because when the Long Island Railroad started going into Grand Central, they updated the train schedule and the 5:33 is no more
She says that time change was a good thing for her.
“And that was actually kind of pivotal because I didn’t have to look at that train schedule and constantly get that reminder of the 5:33. So that also put me in a good place,” Combatti said.
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The post Remembering the LIRR massacre and the victims 30 years later appeared first on WorldNewsEra.