Bernhard Goetz

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Bernhard Goetz (legal name: Bernard Hugo Goetz) is an American man best known for shooting four young African American men who tried to mug him on a New York City Subway train, resulting in his conviction for illegal possession of a firearm. He came to symbolize New Yorkers' frustrations with the high crime rates of the early 1980s. The incident occurred on a 2 train in Manhattan on December 22, 1984. It sparked a nationwide debate on vigilantism, the perceptions of race and crime in major cities, and the legal limits of self-defense.