Manhattan Police Looking for Suspect in Anti-Gay Subway Stabbing
The NYPD's Hate Crimes Task Force is looking for a suspect in a stabbing incident in which a man hurling anti-LGBTQ epithets allegedly scuffled with and then stabbed a subway passenger, local news source Pix 11 has reported.
As the report details, the incident began at about 3:30 in the morning of June 28 "when an unknown man was shouting anti-gay statements at passengers aboard a northbound No. 2 train traveling through Manhattan."
Then, the suspect reportedly "made a specific anti-gay remark to a 29-year-old man sitting on the train," at which point the two men began to argue. The "verbal dispute" turned physical and then "the fight spilled out onto the platform" as the train stopped at 34th Street-Penn Station, the outlet recounts.
"The victim was stabbed in the chest and torso by an unknown object while the suspect fled the station in an unknown direction," amNewYork's report detailed, adding that "the victim went to Mount Sinai West hospital and was treated for non-life-threatening injuries."
In another stabbing incident currently under investigation by the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force, a 20-year-old Staten Island man was attacked by a stranger who screamed an anti-gay slur and charged at him with a knife after the young man intervened in the attacker's sexual harassment of young women.
Dylan Spinosa "was waiting for a cab home from the St. George terminal with three friends about 8:45 p.m. on Sunday... after a day visiting Times Square and stopping by the Pride march," the New York Daily News reported. Some of Spinosa's friends were wearing Pride-related gear.
The man appeared to be drunk and was "harassing every girl that he passed by, talking to them sexually," Spinosa recounted.
When Spinosa and another unidentified man tried to get him to stop, the stranger punched the unidentified Samaritan in the face. At that point, "Spinosa stepped in and put the attacker in a headlock," the report detailed.
A few minutes later, thinking the episode was over, Spinosa went to get some water for the man who had been punched. When Spinosa's back was turned, the attacker rushed at him with a knife in his hand. The Daily News report describes the assailant screamed "faggot" and stabbed Spinosa in the back, chipping Spinosa's scapula.
Eric Shields, 47, was arrested in connection with the stabbing, according to Staten Island Advance, which notes Shields has a criminal record dating back two decades and now faces several charges including "assault with intent to cause physical injury with a weapon and second-degree menacing."