In a shocking incident, two female tourists from Mexico were pushed onto train tracks at a Manhattan subway station on Monday, August 5, the NYPD has said. The suspect is a random woman who shoved the tourists in an unprovoked attack.
The suspect, Ebony Butts, 42, has been taken into custody. The incident reportedly took place at 2:17 am on the uptown F train platform on Delancey Street.
The incident
The victims, aged 28 and 27, were waiting for the train when they were approached by Butts. The suspect pushed one of the women onto the tracks in a random attack. The other woman tried to help her friend, when Butts pushed her onto the tracks as well.
Fellow straphangers came to the rescue of the victims and pulled them from the tracks. Fortunately, no train was entering the station when the victims had been pushed onto the tracks.
Butts was apprehended by an NYPD officer who was on the platform at the time, and heard the commotion. She faces assault and reckless endangerment charges, and was taken for a psychiatric evaluation. Sources described the suspect as an emotionally disturbed person, New York Post reported.
The two women sustained minor leg injuries. First responders reportedly had to help one of them up the stairs. The other victim was spotted being taken out of the station in a wheelchair. They were both rushed to Bellevue Hospital to be treated for their injuries.
{{/usCountry}}The two women sustained minor leg injuries. First responders reportedly had to help one of them up the stairs. The other victim was spotted being taken out of the station in a wheelchair. They were both rushed to Bellevue Hospital to be treated for their injuries.
{{/usCountry}}This incident comes amid reports of an overall decrease in crime in the subway system. Officials said last month that crime in the transit system was down nearly 8% overall in 2024, compared to the same period in 2023. Crime in the transit system is also 11% lower overall than it was before the COVID pandemic in 2019.
"We've had five straight months of double-digit decreases in overall subway crime after we surged more than 1,000 additional officers into the system in February, and, so far, in July, we're on track for a sixth month of safer subways," Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement. "Today, other than during the pandemic, our transit system is the safest it's been in 14 years, with the lowest number of robberies in recorded history."