4 homeless men beaten to death in New York's Chinatown
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Manhattan's Chinatown in New York. At least four men, all believed to be homeless, were killed in Manhattan by an assailant who struck them with a metal object while they were sleeping on Oct 5, 2019.
PHOTO: AFP
NEW YORK (NY TIMES)- At least four men, all believed to be homeless, were killed in Manhattan by an assailant who struck them with a metal object while they were sleeping early Saturday (Oct 5), a police spokesman said.
A fifth victim was taken to a hospital with critical injuries, according to the spokesman, Lt. Thomas Antonetti of the New York Police Department.
A 24-year-old man was in custody, Antonetti said by phone, and a metal object about 3 feet long and similar to a construction stud was recovered by police.
Authorities were alerted to the rampage by a 911 call at 1.50 am Saturday "from an uninvolved party," Antonetti said, adding that the assaults took place in Chinatown and close to the Lower East Side.
The attack began around 1.40 am, a police spokeswoman said, when a man with "severe trauma to the head" was discovered on The Bowery. Shortly afterwards, police discovered another man with injuries to his head. He was taken to the hospital, she said by phone.
Three other men were found on Broadway and East Broadway with fatal injuries, the spokeswoman said.
Antonetti said police had "tentative" IDs for the victims, who were all believed to be homeless. He said the investigation was "fluid and ongoing," and it was not immediately clear if there had been other victims.
He said that New York police officials would hold a news conference later Saturday.
