[Image via the NYPD]
An apparent argument on an uptown 4 train early this morning sparked a slash attack that left 3 people in the hospital, police said.
The Daily News reported that the spree started when the attacker cut a man during an argument around 1:30 a.m. on the 4 train. The man left the train at Union Square, where he preceded to slash two other men as well as slap a woman in the face.
DNAinfo noted that the attacks happened after the victims refused the suspect's request for money.
Per DNA:
As the suspect left the station, climbing the stairs near the Food Emporium at 10 Union Square East, he asked a 46-year-old man for $2, police said. When the man refused, the suspect slashed him on the right side of his face.
The suspect then crossed 14th Street near Fourth Avenue, demanded a dollar from a 59-year-old man who was waiting for the M14 bus and then cut the man's face, police said.
EMTs took the three victims to Bellevue, where they are reportedly listed in stable condition.
According to an NYPD report cited by the Daily News, the suspect is "a heavy-built and clean shaven black man with a missing tooth, 5-foot-9, 180-pounds, age 20-25."
He was last seen wearing red and white sneakers, a black knit hat and a grey hoodie.
Anyone with information that could help in the investigation is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). You may also submit tips online.
Updated 2-6 6:30 p.m.
Police have arrested and charged a man in the attacks, CBS New York reports.
Stories like this make me want to own a gun so I could defend myself and blast this POS away.
ReplyDeleteOr just as easily this nutcase could have a gun and blow you away.
ReplyDeleteGuns only solve problems in movies and TV shows.
ReplyDeleteComments like Anonymous 12:12's make me want to run and hide.
ReplyDelete12:12's comment is actually spot on. The first thing the Nazis did when they gained control of the German State was to enact strict gun controls. It was the first step in their war against the Jews.
ReplyDeleteBill the libertarian anarchist, opponent of gun control and gun grabbers, and resident of the USSB
I'm curious if the victims engaged with their attacker beyond saying no or if he was just quick to attack.
ReplyDeletewhat are you curious about 4.08? they could've shouted vile epithets at the man. doesn't justify slashing someone's face with a razor.
ReplyDeleteThat's right, if the Jews only had guns they could have defeated the Nazis, who killed 7 million Russian soldiers on their way to being defeated. This is another debunked urban myth perpetrated by the NRA, Faux News and right wing gun nuts. Here's a little history lesson. You're welcome.
ReplyDeletevia Salon.com: The Hitler Gun Control Lie
In his 1994 book, NRA head Wayne LaPierre dwelled on the Hitler meme at length, writing: “In Germany, Jewish extermination began with the Nazi Weapon Law of 1938, signed by Adolf Hitler.”
And it makes a certain amount of intuitive sense: If you’re going to impose a brutal authoritarian regime on your populace, better to disarm them first so they can’t fight back.
Unfortunately for LaPierre et al., the notion that Hitler confiscated everyone’s guns is mostly bogus. And the ancillary claim that Jews could have stopped the Holocaust with more guns doesn’t make any sense at all if you think about it for more than a minute.
University of Chicago law professor Bernard Harcourt explored this myth in depth in a 2004 article published in the Fordham Law Review. As it turns out, the Weimar Republic, the German government that immediately preceded Hitler’s, actually had tougher gun laws than the Nazi regime. After its defeat in World War I, and agreeing to the harsh surrender terms laid out in the Treaty of Versailles, the German legislature in 1919 passed a law that effectively banned all private firearm possession, leading the government to confiscate guns already in circulation. In 1928, the Reichstag relaxed the regulation a bit, but put in place a strict registration regime that required citizens to acquire separate permits to own guns, sell them or carry them.
The 1938 law signed by Hitler that LaPierre mentions in his book basically does the opposite of what he says it did. “The 1938 revisions completely deregulated the acquisition and transfer of rifles and shotguns, as well as ammunition,” Harcourt wrote. Meanwhile, many more categories of people, including Nazi party members, were exempted from gun ownership regulations altogether, while the legal age of purchase was lowered from 20 to 18, and permit lengths were extended from one year to three years.
The law did prohibit Jews and other persecuted classes from owning guns, but this should not be an indictment of gun control in general. Does the fact that Nazis forced Jews into horrendous ghettos indict urban planning? Should we eliminate all police officers because the Nazis used police officers to oppress and kill the Jews? What about public works — Hitler loved public works projects? Of course not. These are merely implements that can be used for good or ill, much as gun advocates like to argue about guns themselves. If guns don’t kill people, then neither does gun control cause genocide (genocidal regimes cause genocide).
Besides, Omer Bartov, a historian at Brown University who studies the Third Reich, notes that the Jews probably wouldn’t have had much success fighting back. “Just imagine the Jews of Germany exercising the right to bear arms and fighting the SA, SS and the Wehrmacht. The [Russian] Red Army lost 7 million men fighting the Wehrmacht, despite its tanks and planes and artillery. The Jews with pistols and shotguns would have done better?” he told Salon.
Logic and anti-gun control people, don't bother.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, 12:12 and Bill. You are not alone even though you may feel as if you are in this strange, anti-gun area.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Giovanni! Well said!
ReplyDeleteHow about focusing on the real story? Crazy homeless guy attacks subway riders. But you get sidetracked talking about guns. How about the city does something about these people? What they are doing now is clearly not working. These situations seem to be happening more often that they used to. Homeless mentally unstable violent guys need to be removed from the subway system. Its beyond the point of being a problem its now a crisis. How many more attacks/murders have to happen before this becomes important to city hall? Sending a few outreach workers (with police escorts) onto the trains is not working. A new more aggressive approach is needed. Hope this guy isn't on your train when it gets stuck for an hour.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Giovanni.
ReplyDeleteLifelong New Yorker here to give you a crash course in waiting for and riding subway trains late at night and early morning (I'll say 10pm-6am.)
ReplyDeleteWAITING FOR SUBWAY TRAINS:
Sit or stand as close to an occupied or unoccupied tollbooth as possible. If the tollbooth is occupied, stand right next to it a few feet in front of it. When the indicator shows a train is coming in shortly, pass through the turnstile and walk towards where the first car will stop.
RIDING SUBWAY TRAINS:
Ride in the first car as close to the conductor's cabin as possible.
ALWAYS carry a half-full glass drink bottle.
Make eye contact if you can't help it (that's right, looking the other way signals you're someone to be fucked with.)
Don't make eye contact if you can't help it.