Police Seek Suspect’s Help in Finding Subway Gunman

Detectives searching for the gunman who killed an assailant on a Brooklyn subway train sought help Saturday in identifying the shooter from a teen-ager charged in the mugging.

Melvin Kirkland, 17, was arrested Friday night after being questioned about the shooting, police said.

Kirkland was the first to be arrested from among the group of men who had been on a Manhattan-bound express Thursday night when the mugging victim pulled out a gun and fired.

Ricky Pickett, 25, the son of a retired bus driver, died from a single shot to the heart, police said. Detectives said Kirkland gave them a silver .25-caliber semiautomatic handgun, which is believed to be the weapon that was passed among the gang on the subway car before the shooting. It was not known whether the gun was brandished during the mugging, although police said one of the suspects displayed a razor knife.

Sources said detectives had questioned at least two other members of the group. Detectives also questioned one passenger who remained on board the train after the shooting until police arrived.

Witnesses initially told police Kirkland had fled the train with the gunman’s wallet, but police said Saturday they were uncertain whether a wallet was taken at all. Nor have detectives been able to establish that a watch with a broken clasp found inside Pickett’s pocket belonged to the gunman.

Kirkland was later charged with second-degree robbery and second-degree assault in connection with the attack, police said.

But the public debate that erupted in the aftermath of the shooting continued Saturday.

“Two years ago we would have said, ‘Turn yourself in,’ ” said Lisa Sliwa, a leader of the Guardian Angels, a civilian anti-crime group. “Now we say: ‘Don’t show your face. If you do, your whole life will be ruined.’ ”

Meanwhile, Roy Innis, head of the civil rights group Congress of Racial Equality, offered to help the shooter if he decides to come forward.