January 15, 2022
TIMES SQUARE, New York—A deranged man shoved an Asian woman to her death in front of an oncoming subway train early Saturday morning in Times Square, reports the New York Post.
The horrifying episode unfolded around 9:40 a.m. when the Asian woman was struck by a southbound R train at the Times Square N/Q/R line on West 42nd Street and Broadway, an NYPD spokeswoman stated.
According to reports, “the attack appeared to be random.” The victim was with two other women when she was pushed.
“A person of interest has been taken into custody,” the NYPD said.
The suspect is identified as 61-year-old Martial Simon. He has a criminal record that includes an attempted robbery conviction. He served two years in state prison and was released in August 2021, according to The Post.
Simon later walked into a transit precinct on Canal Street and confessed to his crime.
“He’s been on medication for over 20 years and in and out of mental hospitals in New York,” the stunned sister said when reached by The Post.
Curtis Silwa, the founder of Guardian Angels, stated he’s seen Simon “many times.”
“He will have a conversation and then all of a sudden he will have a psychotic disorder,” Sliwa said. “Again, an Asian gets pushed in front of a train. How many times does this have to happen? Asians are being attacked every which way.”
Wai Wah Chin, president of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance of Greater New York, called the incident “horrifying.”
“It’s a horrible attack on yet another one of our citizens. This has to stop,” she said. “We have to make the streets and subways safe for all of our citizens, especially our Asian women.”
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