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Man Killed By N Train Was Trying To Help His Friend
By
Jaya Saxena
Published May 16, 2010
Modified May 16, 2010
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By
Jaya Saxena
Published May 16, 2010
Modified May 16, 2010
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Jose Gomez, the 29-year-old hit and killed by an N train in Astoria Friday night, apparently tried to save his friend, 18-year-old Beatriz Briceno, before being hit. Briceno had allegedly jumped onto the tracks at the 36th Avenue station to retrieve her coat, and Gomez jumped after her in an attempt to push her out of the way of the oncoming train. "It doesn't surprise me that he tried to save his friend," Jose's sister Kimberly told the Daily News. "He was like that with all of his friends. He was always going above and beyond."
However, now police are questioning how the two wound up on the tracks. Though initial witness reports say Briceno was trying to get her jacket, a police spokesman told City Room, "Did she fall? Did she go to get something? We don’t have that information." Gomez's neighbor, Anselmo Pemberton Jr., also said they had eerily been discussing what they would do if something fell on the subway tracks about a week before, and both agreed they wouldn't jump down. "We were talking about this kind of thing just recently; it’s kind of shocking. He said he wouldn’t do that. It’s tragic."
Police say Gomez and Briceno were friends on Facebook, and were "playfully roughhousing" on the platform. They had also been drinking before the accident, which may explain their possible slow response time at a station where an oncoming train can be seen clearly from two stops away. After being hit, the two were transported to Elmhurst Hospital, where Gomez was pronounced dead and Briceno is currently in critical but stable condition.
Briceno had recently moved from Connecticut to Manhattan, and her friends say she was always trying to help others. "She liked to do good for other people," said one high school friend. The mother of one of her best friends said, "I'm just sorry for the kid that passed away helping her. I guess he's a hero." Gomez was six days shy of his 30th birthday.
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