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Teen stabbed to death over a seat at Flushing Internet cafe: Cops

Teen stabbed to death over a seat at Flushing Internet cafe: Cops
By Gina Martinez

Police said a fatal stabbing at a Flushing internet cafe was over a seat.

Police have arrested and charged 51-year-old Paul Kim with manslaughter in the stabbing of 19-year-old Yangpu Fan in a confrontation at K&D internet cafe, located at 38-19 Union St. Thursday afternoon, the NYPD said.

At 9:43 p.m. police arrived at New York Presbyterian Hospital in Flushing and discovered Fan with a stab wound to the torso. Hospital staff told police he was brought to the hospital earlier via private means. Fan was pronounced dead shortly afterward.

After a preliminary investigation officers determined that Fan was involved in an altercation with Kim, a homeless man who spent most of his time at the internet cafe. Kim is accused of stabbing Fan after he and a group of friends tried to get Kim to leave his seat, police said.

The New York Post reported that a group of teens repeatedly punched Kim in the head and Kim pulled out what appeared to be a hammer and yelled “you’re going to die” as he swung the hammer. The group of teens left the internet cafe and returned a half hour later with more people, including Fan, and picked another fight, the Post said. During the scuffle Kim allegedly pulled out his knife and stabbed Fan, the newspaper said, quoting police sources.

Employees at K&D internet cafe were shocked that Kim would react violently and a manager described him as “polite” and “nice”

“He was a regular,” said K&D manager Paul, who did not want to give his last name. “He would always come here, he stayed here for two weeks at least. He always stayed for 24 hours, the only time he would leave was when he went out to get food. He was a very nice man, he didn’t cause any trouble, he was always very polite. When he would buy something, he would always smile. I’m very surprised.”

The manager said he was not working at the time of the incident, but his staff filled him in on what happened. He said everyone at the cafe feels the same.

“I feel sad,” Paul said. “They should not do that over a seat.”

Kim was arrested at 38-19 Union St., where officers recovered a knife, police said.

He was charged with manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon, according to the NYPD.

The investigation was ongoing.

Reach Gina Martinez by e-mail at gmartinez@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4566.