Posted on 09/09/2008 10:48:18 AM PDT by Puppage
As the SEPTA subway train rocked forward, a thirty-something guy leaned over near the doorway and gently planted a kiss on the little boy at his side.
When the train neared the Fairmount Avenue stop shortly after midnight on Thursday, the man reached out like an adoring parent and directed the 3- or 4-year-old tyke to an open seat.
Then he flew into a monstrous rage.
Without uttering a word, police said, the unidentified man whipped out a double-claw hammer and began bludgeoning a 20-year-old man who was dozing off in his seat.
For five long minutes, SEPTA surveillance cameras captured the deranged attacker - who was still on the loose late last night- digging his hammer into the man's head and neck.
Through it all, disgusted investigators said, at least 10 passengers stood by and did nothing as the random attack moved from the train to the platform, when the hammer-wielding maniac tried to push his victim down onto the train tracks.
When the beating was finished and the suspect fled with the little boy, the victim staggered back onto the train, bloodied, confused and alone, said Detective Kenneth Roach, of Central Detectives.
And even then, no one tried to help him.
"Somebody should have helped this guy," Roach said. "I understand the [other] guy had a hammer, but they outnumbered him at least 10 to one."
Miraculously, the victim took the subway up to Temple University Hospital, received several staples and sutures and was discharged, Roach said.
The motive remains a mystery.
"I'm baffled," Roach said. "He had no reason to do that. It was unprovoked. The victim was just going home from work, minding his own business, listening to his iPod."
Roach said that the victim, whose name was not released, boarded the subway at City Hall.
The attacker - a bearded, stocky, 5-foot-9-inch black man who wore a yellow shirt and black pants - also got on at City Hall, with a youngster who may or may not be his child.
The victim and the hammer-toting psychopath never exchanged a word or a glance, Roach said.
"According to the victim, there was no contact or verbal discussion," he said. "They didn't even notice each other."
The hammer was hidden in a black-and-yellow book bag that the attacker clutched throughout the short subway ride.
The little boy dashed off the train with the other passengers during the brutal beat-down, but was later seen running back on to recover the book bag. The boy and the suspect are seen on camera leaving together.
Roach described the attacker as "very dangerous" and asked anyone who knows him to contact police at 215-686-3093 or -3094. *
Hey!!
I'll have you know there are exciting things happening in the Zune world!
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10035470-56.html?tag=newsLeadStoriesArea.0
That said, ban hammers in Philly!
Was the little boy’s name Damien, I wonder?
I can’t imagine just sitting around doing nothing while someone is vicously attacked. Someone on that train should have at least been carrying pepper spray!
Or, as we call it here in Philly, “Thursday”.
Case in point
And the guy who killed her is still alive too.
Victim here appeared to be a young black man. There's a surveillance video clip at the link. Everybody cleared the area once the assailant started beating on the poor guy.
Another person suffering from ObamaMania.
I stand corrected.
Unfortunately, the Dems are moving out my way in droves.
And bringing with them some of their baggage.
Obama must speak out agiasnt hammers we MUST ban all hammers in the USA!!!!!!!
Another Blue City gun-banning success story!
Another Blue City gun-banning success story!
Must depend on where you live.
Here in Wyoming, I am thanked every single time.
I suspect you're right.
However, even though I am rarely thanked it was the way my mother raised me and I won't stop doing it.
Why is this article keyworded under “Banglist” and “Jihad”?
Just asking, not criticizing.
A hammer?? Who carries a hammer?
FYI, Philly may be a blue city, but it’s in a red state that has very good carry laws (including state preemption). They have shall-issue carry and very few off-limits places, and public transportation isn’t one of them. It was just misfortune that no one on the train at that particular time was armed.
I couldn't tell you. I never add key words when I post.
This is true, but anytime I am on a SEPTA train or especially in 30th Street Station, with all those cops and dogs, I get very uncomfortable.
ping
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