Mayor Bloomberg Calls For Perspective After Subway Murders

Homicide Rates At Historic Lows, Bloomberg Claims

After the second homicide caused by shoving a victim into the path of an oncoming train in December, Mayor Michael Bloomberg urged the city to keep perspective. Despite the high-profile murders, he claimed, citywide violent crime and murder rates are at the lowest point in years.

According to police reports, the two murders took place on December 3^rd and 27^th. The first incident, investigators say, involved a homeless man who allegedly shoved a victim into the path of a train near Times Square. He was arrested shortly afterward, and claimed the act was committed in self-defense. The incident gained infamy when a photograph of the victim reaching out for help was released, causing an uproar over the morality of bystanders, including the photographer, failing to help the deceased.

The latest homicide took place at a train platform in Queens. According to witnesses and surveillance footage of the incident, the attacker was a heavyset woman in her 30s, who suddenly and without warning rushed forward and pushed a 46-year old Hindu into the path of the subway. The victim, who had immigrated from India years ago, was struck so quickly he had no chance to save himself, witnesses told police.

Defendant Charged With Hate Crime In Murder

After releasing footage of the crime to the media, police asked for help from the public in locating the suspect in the second homicide. The suspect, a 31-year old Hispanic woman who lived in Queens, was arrested after a passerby on the street noticed her resemblance to the video and tipped off police to her location.

In a statement released by the New York District Attorney's Office, the defendant allegedly admitted to the crime, telling police that she killed the victim out of a belief that he was a Muslim. She claims to bear a mortal hatred against Muslims as a result of the terrorist attack on September 11^th. Prosecutors say they have charged her with murder as a hate crime, and she has been ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation.

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