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Police have a 30-year-old former deli worker in custody believed to be the suspect who pushed a subway rider off the platform and into the path of an oncoming train at 49th Street after an argument.
Law enforcement sources say the suspect has made statements to detectives implicating himself in the deadly push.
A law enforcement official told NBC 4 New York the man is suspected of pushing 58-year-old Ki-Suk Han off the platform at the N, Q, R station Monday afternoon. Han was hit by a southbound Q train and died.
Witnesses told police the suspect was mumbling to himself before he and Han began arguing on the platform.
A bystander recorded part of the fight between the two men and turned the video over to police, who released it to the public Monday night, and received several tips. The man who allegedly pushed Han is heard cursing and saying, in substance, "Leave me alone... stand in line, wait for the R train and that's it."
He then pushed Han onto the tracks, police said. Han tried to climb back up onto the platform but died after getting trapped between the train and the platform's edge.
Read more news on NBCNewYork.com
The Q train operator, Terrence Legree, told the Daily News he saw the man in the tracks and tried to pull the emergency brakes on the train, but couldn't stop it in time. Even after he heard the sound of the train hitting the man and the locomotive screeched to a halt, Legree said he ran out of the control booth and tried to help the victim.
"If someone can be saved, you have to do what you have to do," Legree, a 21-year employee with the MTA, told the News. But Han couldn't be saved -- a tragic fact that had Legree struggling with an array of emotions and questions more than a day after the man's death.
“All kinds of emotions from ‘Why is this happening?’ to ‘Why was that guy down there?’ to ‘What happened?’” Legree told the News. He was treated for shock after the incident.
Police had released several photos and video clips of the suspect wanted for allegedly pushing Han into the path of Legree's train. A law enforcement official tells NBC 4 New York that co-workers from a nearby deli where the suspect works tipped off police that their colleague might be the subway pusher after they recognized his voice from video.
Investigators then saw the man on surveillance video in the street talking to street vendors outside the subway station, and when they went back to the area Tuesday, he was there, speaking with the same vendors, sources said.
One of the newsstand vendors told NBC 4 New York the suspect was a well-known face in the area and that he spoke to her Tuesday morning.
"I showed him the picture [released by police Monday] and he goes, 'Oh, that's not me,'" said Elizabeth Williston. "I said, 'Yeah, that's you!' Because yesterday, he had the beard, the hair. But today, he had shaved his head, shaved his mustache and everything."
Subway pushes are unusual. Among the more high-profile was the January 1999 death of Kendra Webdale. A former mental patient admitted he shoved her to her death.
Following that, the state Legislature passed Kendra's Law, which lets mental health authorities supervise patients who live outside institutions to make sure they are taking their medications and aren't a threat to safety.
R. Umar Abbasi, a freelance photographer for the New York Post, talks about the controversial photo he took of the man about to be hit by a subway train after being pushed onto the tracks, saying he was attempting to alert the driver and there was "no way" he could have rescued the man.
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They should all be pushed. Dumb asses.
That's it glocky....we need more pushers in the USA. Pharmaceutical companies want more money.
I have used New York's subway system many times, and yes, there aren't any rails, walls, or other safety measures in place. But, it is not at all incomprehensible to realize (as a rider) to stay behind the line until the train comes to a complete stop.
Unfortunately, there is always a major rush by riders to board the trains, and as one result, there are many disagreements between riders. I have seen fights start on the platform, continue on the train until the next stop, and still keep going after the train pulled away from the stop.
Whether New Yorkers prefer to not pay for safety precautions, or if its a Bloomberg, Republican, Democrat agenda, I have no knowledge which would allow me to give any uninformed opinion. What is absolute fact (in this case), was that a felonious criminal act (murder) was committed by one person which caused the death of another person. The murder weapon was the speed and weight of a subway train, utilized by the perpetrator in order to end a dispute between himself and another male.
Having said that, I am hoping justice will be served by bringing this person to a court of law. Once the judicial system has established (beyond reasonable doubt) guilt, then appropriate justice can be dispensed.
My condolences to the victim's family and friends.
Any big city with a rail system has this problem. On any given day you will see dozens of aimless, aggressive men, mostly black, wandering around the train stations, looking for fights. It's not politically correct to observe that they generally look for victims of other races to harass. Why are they so selective in picking their victims? Well, I can give you anecdotal evidence why they usually avoid attacking people of their own race. I once saw this happen. A large aggressive black homeless man once began to hassle a large, well-dressed middle-aged black passenger on a CTA train I was riding in Chicago. After he had had enough, the passenger rose to his feet and gave an MMA-style beatdown to the aggressor. How much do you want to bet that the next victim of the aggressor was a white or Asian or Hispanic person? For the same reason black muggers prefer non-black victims; the latter put up less resistance.
I hope they find the guy too, but I want to know if he just pushed him to kill him or if he pushed him and he fell on accident then the guy ran. Either way though, he should be caught. I wonder why no one even attempted to help him. In the pictures I saw it looked like someone had enough time to get to him to help pull him up. Maybe that's just my thinking. But I wasn't there, so I guess I wouldn't really know.
New York, is another state that should be taken off of the map. I would not visit any parts of NY evn if I had won a trip there!!
Those people are sadistically crazy!!
absolutely, 100% percent correct. nothing but a tourist trap.
bed bugs in every hotel room; cockroaches everywhere;
rats everywhere, too. a dirty, filthy pig sty of a place.
all the city is is a place for some people to get their money
as quickly as they can, etc.
AYE YieYie!
"The man who allegedly pushed Han is heard cursing and saying, in substance, "Leave me alone... stand in line, wait for the R train and that's it." It sounds to me like the guy who got pushed was harassing the other man, maybe trying to cut in line ...? Who really knows? That being said, the man who pushed him needs to be caught and brought to justice. What I don't understand is, from this article anyway, where all of the mental health issue comments are coming from. That reference in the article was due to an incident many years ago, not this one. If someone can clarify, please do. Thanks.
lawful, there are no lines on the subway. Everyone just shoves their way on board. The only etiquette is to allow people to exit before pushing on, and even that is usually ignored.
The assailant is likely delusional - obsessed about personal space where nobody has such space and insisting on a line where there is no line.
California, the video shows the guy standing in front of the pusher during the entire video. If he weren't looking for a problem he would have moved on. That almost eliminates the case of the pusher being a crazy person. I say almost because I don't have any facts about either of them. But this being said, it means there are details we do not know. Can't rush to judgement. But yes the pusher needs to be brought in to face justice.
Just like the videos that show cops beating up suspects, the news media never shows what preceded the 30 second video. In this case the argument started before the tourist started filming it. So at this point, we don't know who started the argument. Only that the Asian guy had his hands in his pockets and was not physically threatening the black guy.
Miranda-7406142:
You do ask one important question that I believe every visitor to New York usually asks while visiting there.
Why won't people assist other people in trouble?
Sadly, I have no answer for you. What I can say is that after my many visits there, I have observed that it is rare to see any New Yorker come to the aid of others. This is just something they will not do. They do have their reasons, of course; i.e., I don't want to get involved, I was late, it was not my problem, and so on. Then too, New Yorkers face criminal retaliation quite unlike what anyone else from other states may encounter.
So, should you ever choose to visit New York City, keep in mind that it is the current understanding of visitors who visit to "...do so at your own risk." And that, in and of itself, means please take great care while you are there.
New Yorkers basically take care of themselves. It is referred to as every man for themselves. It is a very old NYC tradition that works for New Yorkers. Survival of the fittest.
These people who do things like this have lost their humanity and therefore their ticket to being contributing members of the human race. They always say they want respect but then do nothing to earn it. Shameful statement on the current state of inner city behavior.
That's a good one, willy.
I downloaded IE 10, and it seems to work a little better than the 9, though not much better.
That's really awesome, but what does that have to do with the article. I too downloaded ie 10 can't tell any difference either.
We need to ban all subways. Subways kill people...
Where has America gone? It seceded. LOL
Not yet, but with any luck. Who knows...
The guy in the pictures looks like about 70% of the subway riders in NYC. Probably was acting like most of them, too.
I think that when and if the perp is ever caught, he should be handcuffed and taken down to the same platform and shoved off the platform right before a train comes. Let him feel the fear that his victim felt just before he was killed.
I've said it many times. Americans are getting sick and tired of Asians and their "I'm better than you" mentality. This is going to increase in time.
So THAT'S what Kimbo Slice has been up to!
I agree with Al Roker on this one. The camera guy should have dropped the camera and started running to help the poor guy up--not stop for a photo op.
There is a lot of racial hatred among blacks against Asians.
The 1994 show 704 Hauser Street had a black family living in Archie Bunkers old house. One episode had the son mentioning to the Dad the black on Asian hate during the Rodney King riots. Blacks were going to Korean neighborhoods and looting. Yet of course the problem was the white cops and their mistreatment of Rodney King. So why a Korean neighborhood?
Blacks being racist against Asians.
I doubt Obama will be inviting this victims family to the White House.
It's not just blacks that don't like Asians. Most every race dislikes them as well. To arogant and self centered and hell bent on ruining this economy.
Is it just me or is everyone else not asking the obvious question.. There is a lot of talk about race, politics, and mental issues but no talk about how no one tried to pull the guy up. Just watched him get hit and take pictures. He went from the midddle of the tracks and was hanging on the edge put no one could try and pull him up?? I lived in Chicago and rode the trains in the station and know how fast they come into the station but there is no one that ran over to help??
Or at least use your cellphone and follow the guy out of the station so the cops can arrest him??
well looky lou! another murderous nigga doin what his dumb thug ass do! killaz!!! I say exterminate all of these thugs, its time to clean up america!
Guess we'll have to ban trains!!
I guess we'll have to ban trains now.
another black racist taking his anger out on somebody. of course the cops will
categorize this murder as just a random act.
Its shameful, human life dont worth a thing.
why didn't someone try to help pull him up...I am not big but I think I would have screamed someone help me pull him up. People are filming but no tried to help pull him up.
OMG this poor man , he knew he was going to die...just awful, absolutely awful the fear he must have had just before he died.