Uber Faces Flak for Price Surge After NY Subway Shooting, Offers Refunds

This is not the first time Uber is facing trouble. Representative image.

(Photo Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons/Sandeepnewstyle)

Uber on Tuesday, 12 April issued a statement, indicating that it will refund all customers who took Uber rides on inflated prices after an active shooter situation unfolded on the platform of a Brooklyn subway station in New York City.

Earlier in the day, a man travelling on a Manhattan-bound N train shot at passengers when it stopped at 36th Street station in Sunset Park, injuring as many as 23 people.

Following the attack, Uber faced public's ire on Twitter as people noticed a surge in Uber prices. A Twitter user called the sudden spike "predatory and disturbing."

Meanwhile, another user wrote, "The fact that Uber is charging surge pricing in Brooklyn right now is some pretty depressing tech dystopia shit."

In light of online criticism, Uber issued a brief statement indicating that everyone who were charged extra would be refunded.

"Our hearts go out to the victims of this morning’s terrible shooting in Sunset Park. Uber has capped pricing citywide, and if anyone experienced unintended charges in the area during the emergency, we will work to refund them," the Uber employee wrote.

The Attack

Twenty-three people were injured on Tuesday, after a man opened a two canisters of smoke and opened fire on the platform of the Brooklyn subway station.

Of the 23, 10 were injured by the gunfire and an additional 13 were either injured as they rushed to get out of the train station or suffered smoke inhalation, said New York Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell.

The gunman behind the shooting is still at large.

The police on Tuesday evening identified 62-year-old Frank James as a "person of interest" (not a suspect) with respect to the mass shooting.