83-Year-Old Veteran Dies After NYC Subway Push

Richard Williams, an 83-year-old U.S. Air Force veteran, died from injuries sustained when he was shoved onto New York City subway tracks in an unprovoked attack, police announced Thursday. The incident occurred on March 8 around 11:30 a.m. on the southbound platform for the F and Q trains at the Lexington Avenue-63rd Street station on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

Williams, a resident of Roosevelt Island, was waiting for a train when a stranger pushed him from behind onto the tracks, according to authorities. The assailant had moments earlier shoved another man, identified as 30-year-old Jhon Pena, onto the tracks as well. Bystanders, including Pena despite his own injuries, quickly pulled both men back to the platform just before an incoming train arrived. Pena was treated for non-life-threatening shoulder and knee injuries and released from the hospital in stable condition. Williams, however, suffered severe head trauma, including bleeding on the brain, and was rushed to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center. He remained unresponsive on life support until his death on March 17, nine days after the attack. The city medical examiner ruled the death a homicide.