A 25-year-old man wanted in the attacks of Asian women across the city has been found dead in an Upper East Side apartment. Police believe Tyrell Shaw took his own life. Two of the attacks happened downtown — one near Columbus Park in Chinatown and the other on Grand Street in Little Italy.
According to Channel 4, Shaw apparently hanged himself in an elevator shaft inside a building on Madison Avenue. Police believe he has been dead for at least several days. In the attacks, the suspect approached the women, attempted to strike up a conversation, and proceeded to strike the victims in the face with a plastic bag containing a hard object. In a blog purportedly belonging to Shaw, he vowed to go on the attack against Asian women because they did not give him the attention he sought. He also threatened suicide.
Shaw had a lengthy criminal history, including a pattern of violence. Cops had responded to severally “emotionally disturbed person” reports involving Shaw over the years.
