What to Know
- A man at a Bronx subway station was hit by a hammer-wielding attacker then thrown onto the tracks in what may have been an anti-gay assault
- The 21-year-old victim was at the Tremont Avenue when someone rushed at him with a hammer after yelling homophobic slur, police said
- The attacker then swung the hammer into the victim’s armpit, and proceeded to throw him onto the tracks before running off, police said
A man at a Bronx subway station was hit by a hammer-wielding attacker and then thrown onto the tracks, in what police say may have been an anti-LGBTQ assault.
The 21-year-old victim was on the southbound platform at the Tremont Avenue B and D station in the Mount Hope neighborhood overnight Friday when someone rushed at him with a hammer after yelling homophobic slur, according to police.
The attacker then swung the hammer into the victim’s armpit, and proceeded to throw him onto the tracks before running off, police said. The victim picked himself up off the tracks and got police.
Officials say the man suffered a bad cut on his left eyebrow and intense neck pain. It marks the fifth violent attack at a NYC subway station in just three days.
Neighbors of the man were furious over the attack, and one said she had seen the victim’s mother earlier in the morning.
“She said some bruises and something about a black eye, but I really didn’t know because she was rushing inside her apartment,” said Kim Faucett. “I wish I would have known it was (her son), I would have gave her a hug.”
Local
The victim was recovering at the hospital following the attack.
Because of the alleged anti-gay slur, police are now investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. Cops told NBC New York they do not have a good description of the man they are looking for, at this point only saying he is someone in his 30s.
An investigation is ongoing.