TIMES SQUARE, Manhattan (PIX11) — A woman died Saturday morning after she was pushed onto the subway tracks and struck by a train at the Times Square station, officials said.
The incident happened on the southbound R train platform at Broadway and 42nd Street just after 9:30 a.m., according to the NYPD.
Officers found the 40-year-old woman lying on the tracks, unconscious with trauma to her body, police said. EMS personnel pronounced her dead at the scene, authorities said. The victim was identified Saturday night as Michelle Go.
Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said the attack was unprovoked, adding that there was no apparent interaction between the suspect and victim.
"This was a senseless, absolutely senseless, act of violence," Sewell said.
Simon Martial, 61, turned himself in shortly after the incident, Sewell said during a press conference Saturday afternoon.
Martial had another encounter with another woman at the station before the fatal attack, Assistant Chief Jason Wilcox said.
The first woman reported Martial "got in her face," Wilcox said, making her fear for her safety. The woman said she thought he was going to push her onto the tracks, so she walked away.
As she left, Martial pushed the second woman onto the tracks, Wilcox said.
Sewell confirmed that the victim of the fatal attack was Asian, but the first woman Martial confronted was not. Sewell said police are "investigating all avenues," and would update on any potential hate crime investigation.
Martial is known to police and has reports against him, including three other emotionally disturbed incidents. Wilcox said he was on parole at one point, and did have a parole warrant, which police are looking into. The NYPD listed Martial as being homeless.
Police said Martial is being charged with second-degree murder.
When asked why he pushed the victim onto the train's path during a perp walk, he told members of the media "I'm God ... You stole my ******* planet."
Mayor Eric Adams said the attack highlighted the need to address mental health in the city. He mentioned Kendra's Law — a law that requires those who cannot take care of themselves to take medication — during a conference Friday.
"We want to continue to highlight ... how imperative it is that people receive the right mental health services, particularly on our subway system," Adams said.
Delays were reported on the N, Q, and R lines in both directions as a result of the incident.
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