Jan. 15 (UPI) — A woman was killed after being pushed in front of a moving subway train in New York City’s Times Square on Saturday, police said.
The New York Police Department said the victim died at 9:39 a.m. in the Times Square-42nd Street station after she was pushed into the path of a southbound train, WABC-TV and The New York Times reported.
A male suspect is in custody.
Three of Manhattan’s main subway lines were hit with delays as the investigation at the Times Square station proceeded, the New York City Transit Authority said.
Authorities said the victim is a 41-year-old Asian woman but didn’t immediately indicate if the incident is under investigation as a hate crime.
Canella Gomez, vice president of Transit Workers Union Local 100, told broadcaster NY1 the operator of the train that struck the woman was receiving medical assistance at Bellevue Hospital.
“This is such a tragedy,” she said. “No passenger or employee should ever have to worry about their safety in the NYCT subway system. Clearly no train operator comes to work expecting to have a passenger thrown in front of his or her train.”
The incident came a week after New York Mayor Eric Adams and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul vowed to beef up the police presence on the city’s subway system, announcing a program sending teams of dozens of social workers to shepherd homeless riders into shelters.
Adams said the NYPD will refer homeless people they encounter to the new teams unless there’s criminal activity that requires immediate attention.
