I am sorry you had such a scary day. That said, how can you expect to exert mastery over a situation you have basically zero control over? That is not realistic, unless you are Batman.

There is a trial going on here now. A man on our loca rail, called MAX, was shouting racist slurs at two young women on the train in 2017. Two other men moved to stand in front of the women to block the man from having any physical path to them. The man doing the racist yelling shoved one of the good samaritans in the chest. He shoved back. The racist screamer, then took out a folding 4-inch knife and stabbed both men in the carotid and vertebral arteries, respectively, killing both. It took 12 seconds from start to finish.

My father is a very wise man. When I moved to NYC for college long ago, he warned me not to get into it with strangers ever. No matter what. "You don't know them. You have no idea what they might be capable of."

As usual, this was excellent counsel.

Being fearful or sad or just upset about your recent situation is an appropriate response to those events. Disengaging as best you can is the only safe move. You don't want to end up like teh two good samaritans in Portland.