Fight for computer at cafe gets teen stabbed
A HOMELESS man stabbed a teenager to death inside a Queens internet cafe during a clash with a group of his friends who had demanded he give up his seat so they could play a computer game, authorities said Thursday.
The fight began at 9 p.m. Wednesday when three pals playing League of Legends together at the K&D Internet Cafe on Union St. near 38th Ave. in Flushing asked 51-year-old Paul Kim to give up his terminal so they could bring in more players, NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said.
“They needed another computer, and they asked the male next to them if they could take over,” Boyce said at a news conference.
But Kim, a regular at the internet cafe, refused to give up his corner console, even though his computer screen was dark at the time.
“I’m spending my time!” Kim yelled at the trio, witnesses told police.
The three outraged friends who wanted to play the multiplayer online game attacked Kim, punching him in the face. The teens later told cops Kim had grabbed one of them by the throat and punched one of them in the face.
Kim then grabbed what appeared to be a hammer from one of the bags he had with him and waved them off, witnesses said.
“You’re going to die!” Kim screamed as the teens ran off, witnesses told police.
“I don’t know why they would argue about a seat,” cafe manager Paul Chen said. “I feel so sorry about it.”
The teens returned about 30 minutes later with 19-year-old Yangpu Fan, who had not been present for the earlier argument. Fan soon began arguing with Kim — demanding he give up his seat, police said.
Fan and his friends jumped Kim — throwing him over a desk as they beat and kicked him. This time, Kim whipped out a knife — and plunged it into the left side of Fan’s stomach, police said.
Fan’s friends took him to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Queens, where they reported the attack to police.
Cops showed up at the cafe within an hour after the bloodshed and found Kim still inside, sitting at his computer. He was arrested without incident.
Fan, who lived a few blocks from the cafe, died at the hospital at about 3 a.m. Thursday, officials said.
Cops charged Kim with manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon.
Kim has been arrested six previous times, mostly for misdemeanor petty larceny and stolen property possession charges, officials said. His last arrest was in 2014. He has no history of mental illness. The cafe’s manager said Kim began coming into the cafe about six months ago.
Over the past couple weeks, he had begun staying for days at a time, always paying his $2-anhour fee.
“We didn’t kick him out because he paid,” Chen said. “I don’t know what happened to him (Wednesday) night.”
A neighbor of the victim called him a “nice guy” and lamented a life lost over a game.
“Why would he kill (Fan)?” the neighbor said. “What was the point of killing him just over a computer? Maybe (Fan) should have just walked away and left the homeless guy alone.”