The Bobster
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nypost.com
Estranged wife of accused NYC subway maniac shot in head during fight dumped him because he was increasingly ‘aggressive’
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Published March 15, 2024, 7:14 p.m. ET
The wife of the Brooklyn subway rider who went off the rails during Thursday’s commute and ended up shot in the head told The Post on Friday she dumped him last year because he was becoming too “aggressive.”
Lisa Sweat, the estranged spouse of unhinged armed straphanger DaJuan Robinson, 36, said her husband had been a construction worker who didn’t exhibit any mental issues when they were together — but that she had to give him the boot because he “changed.”
“He didn’t have any mental issues. We were good when we were good,’’ Sweat said from her Staten Island home.
12 Dajuan Robinson is accused of going on a rampage and ending up shot in the head with his own gun.
Then “the last couple of months, he just got aggressive with me, and I let him go,’’ she said of Robinson — who Mayor Eric Adams and top cops said was clearly exhibiting signs of mental illness during Thursday’s rampage.
Robinson was accused of pushing his wife and throwing something at their TV in November 2022 — when she failed to say hi as he entered their Staten Island home, law-enforcement sources said.
At the time, cops were told Robinson had previously been seen with a gun a few months earlier, but it was unclear what the outcome of the report was.
A month earlier, he had been accused of cutting the cords to the family’s washing machine, dishwasher and electric grill during a fit, sources said.
12 Robinson attacked a stranger on the subway before being shot, according to cops and video.
“That was at the end of our relationship — and yes, that was only when he was drinking,’’ Sweat said of domestic incidents between the pair.
“Those couple of times was because of the drinking, and that was my last straw.
“He gets aggressive when he gets mad. It’s only when he’s drinking. That’s the only problem,’’ Sweat said.
“He might’ve been drinking’’ Thursday, she said.
“That’s the only thing I can think of that can make him like that.”
A step-by-step breakdown of what happened in the Brooklyn subway shooting
12 A dramatic video showed a 36-year-old in a violent interaction with a 32-year-old (in the yellow shirt) before at least four gunshots rang out on the crowded train.
12 As the two were fighting, a woman on the train stabbed the 36-year-old in the back, making him bleed.
12 The 36-year-old then pulled out a gun from his jacket, and charged at the 32-year-old, causing the commuters to erupt into screams. @JoyceMeetsWorld/X-ABC
12 At least four gunshots were heard just as the train pulled into the A/C Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets station. @JoyceMeetsWorld/X-ABC
12 Police said the 32-year-old had managed to wrestle the gun away during the struggle and use it against his attacker.
12 The two strangers tussled for several minutes as others on the train pleaded for them to stop, saying there were children aboard.
12 “I’m bleeding. You stabbed me, right?” the aggressor asked the woman, with blood beginning to drip down his back.
12 The 36-year-old, wearing a black hoodie, can be seen with the gun in his hand, according to sources.
12 Travelers rushed to the opposite end, with several throwing themselves on the floor. @JoyceMeetsWorld/X-ABC
12 The 32-year-old was arrested before he even stepped onto the platform, NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper said.
Robinson had entered the subway system illegally in Brooklyn before the evening rush and targeted a straphanger on a crowded A-train, taunting the stranger, displaying a knife and finally whipping out a handgun as chaos ensued, according to cops and video.
Law-enforcement sources told The Post on Friday that Robinson appeared to have been harassing the stranger because he wrongly thought the 32-year-old man, Younece Obuad, was a recent migrant.
As the pair scuffled, Obuad ended up shooting Robinson four times with his own gun, including through the eye, leaving him critical.
Prosecutors declined Friday to prosecute Obuad, saying it was a case of self-defense.
Robinson’s wife said she was shocked to hear of her estranged husband’s behavior.