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Photos, Video: Subway Shove Victim Photographed Before Train Hit Him, Was Arguing With Alleged Attacker
By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 4, 2012
Modified Dec 5, 2012
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By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 4, 2012
Modified Dec 5, 2012
Share
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The NYPD has released surveillance video of the emotionally disturbed man suspected of shoving a Queens dad in front of a subway train yesterday afternoon. The video, below, shows the unidentified suspect arguing with Ki-Suck Han moments before allegedly throwing Han down onto the subway tracks at West 49th Street and 7th Avenue. Far more disturbing is today's cover of the NY Post, which features a photo of Han on the tracks as the train bears down on him, with the lurid headline "... THIS MAN IS ABOUT TO DIE."
Video of altercation between alleged subway shover and victim from Gothamist on Vimeo.
Some are questioning why the photographer took photos instead of trying to help Han up. (This is part of a never-ending debate about photojournalism.) The photographer, freelancer R. Umar Abbasi, tells the tabloid, "I just started running, running, hoping that the driver could see my flash. The most painful part was I could see him getting closer to the edge. He was getting so close. And people were running toward him and the train... I didn’t think about [the perp] until after. In that moment, I just wanted to warn the train — to try and save a life."
A doctor was also on the platform when the incident happened, and she says she tried in vain to resuscitate Han, who according to one witness was dragged 10-15 feet by the train. “There was blood coming out his mouth," Dr. Laura Kaplan tells the Post. "We couldn’t do CPR. He wasn’t in the right position. and there was just no way to get him out of there.” Han, 58, was pronounced DOA at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital. Dr. Kaplan adds, "People were shouting and yelling when it happened, but then people ran the other way."
According to the police, the suspect is a black male with short dreadlocks, last seen wearing a dark jacket, a gray T-shirt and a cap. One police source says the man was screaming on the platform and panhandling, and Han approached him in an attempt to calm him down. But the police source also tells the Post that one witness is claiming Han was the "aggressor" and police found a bottle of vodka on his person.
Han's devastated wife says her husband had stormed out of their Elmhurst home at 11 a.m. after a verbal altercation. She called him repeatedly, but he never answered.
Tagged
49th Street
fatal shove
HOMICIDE
ki-suck han
manhattan
naeem davis
subway
subway shoving
tragedy
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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