Authorities are investigating whether a man identified as the suspect in a string of recent attacks on Asian women in Manhattan is the blogger who wrote that he decided to begin his violent onslaught because he wanted "to give all Asian Women a legitimate reason to hate" him.
In a blog police are investigating as linked to 25-year-old suspect Tyrell Shaw, a writer said he would begin attacking women after following two women in SoHo and being rejected by other Asian women.
"By starting an independent civil war where I will hit over a million Asian Women in the face with a stick will change history," the blogger wrote.
Sources have said a tipster called Crime Stoppers to report the blog thought to be linked to Shaw, who is suspected of attacking four Asian women in their 20s across Manhattan. Sources also briefly investigated whether he was the man who allegedly followed two women for about an hour a few days before the first attack, but later said it didn't appear those cases were connected to the pattern.
Previous posts mention growing frustration after talking to nearly 1,500 Asian women in less than a year, while others have threatened suicide. Sources have said that they have found no indication the suspect has taken his own life.
Shaw has been arrested 10 times in the city since 2006 for an array of offenses, including credit card theft, criminal trespassing and burglary, records show. The sources say he has been involved in four prior domestic cases; three of them involved arguments with family members and one stemmed from a fight with a girlfriend.
Police have also encountered him several times when responding to reports of an emotionally disturbed person; in April, they responded after he was running into oncoming traffic on 10th Avenue, putting himself and others in dangers, law enforcement sources say.
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Police have released photos of the suspect in the case, who they say began attacking Asian women last week in Chinatown. In the first case, on June 10, he asked a 35-year-old woman, "Who is the president of the United States?" police say. When she didn't respond, police say, he walked away, then returned with a white plastic bag containing a hard object and hit her in the face.
About four hours later, a 29-year-old Asian woman was walking down Park Avenue near East 30th Street when the suspect walked past her and waited at the corner, police say. He hit her in the face with the bag when she reached the corner; she was treated at a hospital and released.
Two days later, on June 12, the same suspect attacked a 34-year-old woman walking near Second Avenue and East 60th Street. As in the earlier cases, he walked up to her, armed with the white bag containing the hard object, and bashed her in the forehead. She also was treated at a hospital.
The woman in that case said the man spoke to her, saying, "All Asian girls doesn't talk to me," the victim told NBC 4 New York. She said he complained he could never get their phone numbers; she said she ignored him.
"And then, just after next second, he just hit my face," the woman said.
She said she chased the man after the attack, but stopped when she realized she was covered in blood. The woman needed 10 stitches to close a gash above her eye. She says the wound is so painful that she can't work.
The most recent attack was Monday, when police say the suspect tried to strike up a conversation with a 41-year-old Asian woman on Mulberry Street. She ignored him and he left, but returned, this time with a gray bag containing a hard object, and whacked her in the face with it.
None of the victims were seriously injured in the attacks, which authorities are investigating as bias crimes.
Anyone with information on Shaw's whereabouts is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS.
