Man, 26, Is Murdered
On Busy B'klyn Street
By MARTIN MBUGUA, TAMER EL-GHOBASHY
and LEO STANDORA
Daily News Staff Writers
young Talmudic scholar heading home with food for his wife and three children was fatally stabbed on a busy Brooklyn street last night, police said.
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| Police examine weapon possibly used in fatal attack on young Talmudic scholar in Brooklyn last night. |
Detectives said an attacker plunged a knife into 26-year-old Avner Abensour in front of a car rental firm at 1500 Coney Island Ave. in Midwood at 8:40 p.m.
Abensour had just crossed the street after buying a few things at a kosher supermarket on his way home to E. 10th St. just a few blocks away, they said.
Apparently stabbed once in the left side of his back, Abensour collapsed on the sidewalk without even a cry for help.
He was taken unconscious to Maimonides Medical Center, where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.
Investigators had neither a suspect nor a motive last night for the crime, but said they found a bloody knife in a garbage can around the corner on Avenue K.
Early today, cops still had the area cordoned off while they questioned possible witnesses and looked for clues.
The victim's black hat, jacket, unopened umbrella and a package from the supermarket lay on the pavement encircled in yellow crime-scene tape.
A 21-year-old man from the area, who gave his name only as Akiva, said he saw the victim fall and called 911.
"He seemed to be in quite a lot of pain, but he was very quiet, kind of out of it," he said. "He didn't say anything to me."
Police said Abensour was a student at the Baisroel Talmudic School at Avenue J and Ocean Ave., and became a father for the third time just six months ago.
Early on, police theorized that the stabbing might have been a bias crime, but sources said later that investigators were focusing more on the possibility Abensour was killed in a robbery attempt or in a grudge attack.
But an acquaintance who gave his name only as Eli, 18, said Abensour wasn't the type to have enemies.
"He was a very nice, gentle person, not a harmful person at all," he said. "He was the kind of guy who always avoided disputes."
City Councilman Mike Nelson (D-Brooklyn), who went to the scene, said, "This is seemingly an isolated incident and not a crime of bias," stressing that the area was generally quiet and safe.
"This is unusual," Nelson said. "This stuff doesn't happen here. Our community is in total shock."
State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who represents the area in Albany, also went to the scene and acknowledged that word of a bias attack was spreading but urged the community to ignore it.
"We should be calm and not believe any rumors. I am confident that those responsible will be apprehended by the NYPD," Hikind said.
Original Publication Date: 03/19/2002
