NYC "Subway Push" Murder: A Horrifying New Reality For Subway Users (Video)

Culture

There has been another “subway push” death in New York City, the second such incident in a month.

And with a mass transit system used by 5 million people a day, this new incident strikes fear in the heart of any New Yorker.

According to police reports, a man was standing on the elevated platform of a 7 train in Queens at about 8 p.m. on Thursday when a heavyset woman who was mumbling to herself and had been following the man suddenly pushed him into an oncoming train.

The man, with his back to her, didn’t even see it coming. According to police, the woman got up from a nearby bench and shoved the man down. According to CBS News, "Authorities say the woman waited until the last possible second before pushing the man, reports CBS New York station WCBS-TV."

The Associated Press reports that, "It didn't appear the man noticed her before he was shoved onto the tracks, police said. The condition of the man's body was making it difficult to identify him, police said."

Earlier this month, a man was similarly pushed in front of an on-coming train in Manhattan. Freelance photographer R. Umar Abbasi caught the incident on camera — an image mere seconds before 58-year-old Ki-Suk Han, the victim, was struck by the train. The photo made it onto the front page of the New York Post, causing an uproar in the debate of ethical journalism.

The horrific murder of Han sent chills through every New York City transit rider.

New Yorkers are used to packed subway stations, where it seems like even an accidental bump by a stranger could send a commuter flying in front of an on-coming train. The fact that people are now actually, consciously pushing victims into on-coming subway trains is a new twist, and a cause for great concern.

This tragedy can happen to anyone in New York’s mass transit system. Random lunatics shuffling through subway platforms could turn on any one of the 5 million commuters who travel through the tunnels.

That thought alone makes this senseless crime that mush more terrifying.   

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to properly cite language that was originally used without attribution to CBS News and The Associated Press. We apologize to our readers for this violation of our basic editorial standards. Mic has put in place new mechanisms, including plagiarism detection software, to ensure that this does not happen in the future.