Colin Ferguson was born on January 14, 1958, in Kingston, Jamaica. He was the son of Von Herman Ferguson, a prominent businessman and managing director of Hercules Agencies, and his wife, May. He attended Calabar High School in Kingston and was reportedly a good student who played cricket and soccer. However, his life took a turn for the worse after the death of both parents, his father in a car accident in 1978 and his mother soon after from cancer. These tragedies left Ferguson emotionally shaken and financially unstable.

In 1982, Ferguson moved to the United States. He later married an American woman named Audrey Warren in 1986, which allowed him to obtain permanent residency. The marriage ended in 1988, reportedly due to conflicts and his aggressive behavior, which deeply affected him.

Ferguson lived in New York and held clerical jobs, including one at Ademco Security Group, from which he was terminated after a workplace injury. He filed a workers’ compensation claim and eventually received a settlement, but remained unemployed and increasingly bitter. Ferguson enrolled at Nassau Community College and later Adelphi University, where he began exhibiting concerning behavior, including outbursts and accusations of racism against classmates and professors. He was suspended in 1991 after issuing threatening statements in class.

His behavior grew more erratic. He moved around, lived in Brooklyn, then briefly relocated to California in 1993. While there, he legally purchased a Ruger P89 pistol. He returned to New York in May 1993, and those close to him noticed a marked deterioration in his mental state. Ferguson expressed paranoid thoughts, took multiple daily showers, and began ranting about race-based conspiracies. He was also involved in past incidents of harassment and arrests and made threatening calls to law firms and state agencies.

On December 7, 1993, at approximately 5:33 p.m., Colin Ferguson boarded a crowded Long Island Rail Road commuter train departing from Penn Station in Manhattan and heading east toward Hicksville. Armed with a Ruger P89 semi-automatic pistol and carrying over 160 rounds of ammunition in a canvas bag, Ferguson took a seat in the third car. As the train approached the Merillon Avenue station in Garden City Park, Ferguson stood up, dropped ammunition on the floor, and opened fire on passengers at random.

In a brutal and calculated attack lasting about three minutes, Ferguson walked down the aisle of the train, firing his weapon methodically. Witnesses described him as shooting left and right, pausing briefly to look each victim in the face before pulling the trigger. Ferguson reportedly said, “I'm going to get you,” repeatedly during the attack. Six passengers were killed and 19 others wounded. Two additional people were injured in the chaos that followed as terrified passengers stampeded toward other train cars.

Ferguson was subdued while attempting to reload his weapon. Three passengers, Michael O’Connor, Kevin Blum, and Mark McEntee, tackled and held him down with help from others. While pinned, Ferguson reportedly cried out, “Oh God, what did I do?” and pleaded for his life. He was handcuffed by an off-duty LIRR police officer who arrived moments later.

Investigators found pages of handwritten notes in Ferguson’s pockets that expressed paranoia, hatred, and grievances against various individuals and institutions. The notes listed supposed "reasons" for the attack, referencing perceived racial injustices and naming people Ferguson believed wronged him.

Ferguson was charged with 93 counts, including multiple counts of murder and attempted murder. His legal proceedings became infamous when he chose to represent himself in court. Despite warnings from the judge and his own attorneys, Ferguson fired his legal team, William Kunstler and Ron Kuby, rejecting their “black rage” defense strategy and insisting on his innocence. During the trial, he bizarrely cross-examined his own victims, referring to himself in the third person. His legal arguments were disjointed and conspiratorial, including claims that someone else had framed him.

The court found him competent to stand trial, despite concerns about his mental health. On February 17, 1995, Colin Ferguson was convicted on all counts and sentenced to 315 years and 8 months to life. The sentencing judge, Donald E. Belfi, declared that Ferguson would never walk free again, stating, “Colin Ferguson will never return to society.”

He is currently incarcerated at Mid-State Correctional Facility in New York. His earliest possible parole date is August 6, 2309.