Police are searching for a suspect in another subway train death in New York City.
For the second time this month a man has been pushed to his death under an oncoming subway train in New York City. The New York Times reports,
The young woman got up from her seat, walked behind the man along the platform, mumbling to herself, witnesses told the police, before shoving him into the path of a Flushing-bound No. 7 train just after 8 p.m. Witnesses said the victim did not appear to notice her.
Police say that the unidentified man was pushed with little to no time to avoid being hit or for others to help him. The New York Police Department’s chief spokesman Paul J. Brown said,
We haven’t determined whether it was random or if there was some connection yet, but there was nothing from what the witnesses could see to indicate that they knew each other and he did not, according to the witnesses, appear to realize that she was approaching.
The suspect has been described by police as a heavyset Hispanic woman appearing to be in her early 20s. She fled on foot down Queens Boulevard, but police have been able to obtain clear images of her as she fled from the Oasis Restaurant’s 24-hour cameras which are pointed at the stairway leading to the elevated subway platform.
UPDATE: According to the Washington Post the man who was pushed onto the subway tracks was a ’46-year-old from India who lived in New York City and worked for a printing business.’ The police are still looking for the woman believed to be responsible and have released video of her running from the scene in the hopes someone will recognize her and aid in her apprehension.
UPDATE: The woman suspected of pushing a man to his death in front of a subway train has been taken into custody. The New York Post reports that police apprehended the 31-year-old homeless woman early this morning in Brooklyn. The woman has not been charged yet, but law enforcement sources say members of her family called authorities after seeing the video on the news.
UPDATE: ABC News reports that 31-year-old Erika Menendez, the woman responsible for the subway-pushing death of Sunando Sen in Queens, New York, has been charged with murder as a hate crime. According to the district attorneys office Menendez told police,
I pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because I hate Hindus and Muslims ever since 2001 when they put down the twin towers I’ve been beating them up.
It was ordered by Judge Gia Morris at the arraingment on Saturday night that Menendez be held without bail and be given a psychiatric evaluation.
Picture: Marcin Wichary/Flickr
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