New York City incivility turned bloody when a doctor was shot in the chest by a fellow passenger on a crowded city bus.
"As he was weaving his way through the bus, he bumped me, and began to yell at me `Respect my space! Respect my space!"' Dr. Kanwarjit Singh said from his hospital bed.The stranger screamed ethnic slurs at Singh and raised a beer bottle as if to strike him.
That was when someone noticed the bulge in the man's waistband and shouted, "He's got a gun!"
The driver pulled over, and the approximately 70 passengers spilled off.
"There was this `High Noon' moment with him and me and the driver," Singh said.
"He kept shouting about how he'd been insulted and wanted an apology," said Singh's wife, Harmeet Dhillon. "He says, `Get down on your knees and apologize.' My husband made no attempt to comply. So the guy began to pull his gun and shot himself in the groin. He was very intoxicated, and when he shot himself he became completely infuriated. He emptied his gun at my husband."
Singh, 40, was in serious but stable condition late Saturday, said Larry Dugan, a spokesman for Bellvue Hospital.
Abu Muhammad, 28, is charged with attempted murder. He too was in serious condition.
Singh wasn't soured by Friday evening's incident: "I am an enthusiastic resident of New York. I am a citizen. This is just the price of the ticket.