Jyrell Thomas was taken to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation Thursday morning. He was described by police as emotionally disturbed.
He was later arrested on charges of murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
Police said Thomas was pacing back and forth inside the train car and appeared agitated before approaching Mesias Lojano, 59, just after 4 p.m. on Wednesday. Lojano tried to walk away before Thomas swung at him with a kitchen knife, according to police.
Bismarck Villareyna witnessed the attack and recorded video aboard the train.
“I heard, oh somebody is being attacked, somebody being attacked. So I pulled out my phone, started walking, as you see in the video,” Villareyna said.
The violence eventually spilled onto a J train platform, where bystanders chased Thomas.
“There was an old man behind me – hold him! Hold him! Hold him! And that’s when he started running. And then I started running after him,” Villareyna said.
Villareyna said he considered trying to physically intervene but was concerned that he could also be stabbed.
“I wanted to kick him, but I say, you know, if I kick him and I miss or he stabbed me then. So I was getting my position. I tried to record to get, you know, evidence.”
Villareyna continued following Thomas and directed officers to him. Thomas climbed onto a rooftop, where he had to be lifted and carried away.
“Then he stopped there and he sat down and he was saying, ‘oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do it.’ But in some of my videos, I was, I was upset,” Villareyna said.
Thomas has one prior arrest, stemming from a robbery early last month in which he stole $23 of merchandise from a Bronx Target. He was charged with petit larceny, obstruction of governmental administration and criminal possession of stolen property.
This is the sixth homicide in the subway system this year. There were four murders in the system all of last year, and 10 in 2024.
There has been a 7% increase in assaults in the subway this year, with 441 vs 410 at this time last year.
(NEW YORK) — Three Pennsylvania youth football coaches were charged Thursday, days after they were part of a massive brawl caught on video during the final minutes of a game, police said.
The clash took place during the final minutes of Saturday’s game between Carlynton and Keystone Oaks, who were made up of 8 and 9-year-old players, in Carnegie, a Pittsburgh suburb. Carlynton coach DeQuay Canton, 24, was seen screaming at the sideline of the opposing team and then confronted one of their coaches, Frank McGrath, 37, the criminal complaint said.
Although referees tried to separate them, the fight escalated as more Keystone Oaks coaches came onto the field and fought with the Canton, according to the criminal complaint.
At one point during the fight, another Keystone Oaks coach, Joseph Kobiak, 35, and the Canton were seen throwing a punch at the other’s head as bystanders looked on and called to watch the kids, according to the video and the criminal complaint.
On Thursday, the Carnegie Police Department charged Canton with disorderly conduct and harassment. The police allege he threw punches “which would have caused substantial harm and most definitely caused serious inconvenience.”
Police also charged McGrath and Kobiak by summons with disorderly conduct and harassment for participating in the fight.
The investigation is ongoing. Attorney information for the coaches wasn’t immediately available.
Steel City Youth Football League, which organized the game, said in a statement Monday that it suspended two coaches involved in the fight indefinitely.
The two teams independently suspended five additional members involved in the clash, according to the league.
“League officials are reviewing video footage, referee reports, and witness statements. The scope of this inquiry is not limited to the ejected individuals; the investigation may expand to include additional personnel, coaches, or spectators found to be involved,” Steel City Youth Football League said in a statement.
Three hikers were rescued early Monday, Sept. 28, in Big Sur, Calif. after requesting emergency assistance. (Monterey County Sheriff’s Office)
(NEW YORK) — Three hikers were airlifted to safety by rescue crews early Monday morning after becoming lost and disoriented in a Big Sur state park, according to officials.
The hikers called 911 at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday to request emergency assistance, prompting a joint search-and-rescue operation by the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue, Big Sur Fire, and a naval air station in the area, according to the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office.
One of the hikers was experiencing a medical emergency when they called 911, the sheriff’s office said.
The group was located at about 12:30 a.m. The sheriff’s office team located them Monday and hoisted them to safety with “Lasso 3,” a Navy search-and-rescue helicopter, according to the release.
Rescue teams undertook a 2.5-mile hike at about 2,000 feet of elevation along trails that needed to be cleared with machetes and chainsaws because of overgrowth to reach the hikers, authorities said.
The three were hiking in Limekiln State Park along the Big Sur coastline, officials said.
The three were turned over to Big Sur Fire and Ambulance personnel upon their safe return and the mission was concluded at about 4 a.m. on Monday, according to the sheriff’s office.
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office reminds those venturing into the backcountry to know their limitations and prepare before departing. Hikers are encouraged to use established trails, carry a GPS-enabled device for navigation, and tell a family member or friend when they leave and their expected return time.
Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk, sits beside defense lawyer Kathryn Nester during a preliminary court hearing before District Court Judge Tony Graf in Provo, Utah, U.S. July 7, 2026. (Utah Courts)
(PROVO, Utah) — A video compilation that prosecutors say shows conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer’s movements on the campus of Utah Valley University before and after the shooting played in court on Tuesday over the vigorous objections of defense attorneys.
Attorneys for the defendant, Tyler James Robinson, 23, argued that the video footage Judge Tony Graf allowed prosecutors to play publicly at Robinson’s preliminary hearing will likely taint a potential jury pool.
“We think this video is going to play a big role in the trial,” Robinson’s lead attorney, Kathryn Nester, told Graf during the second day of the multi-day hearing.
Defense attorney Michael Burt argued that making the video compilation public will likely prevent Robinson from getting a fair trial.
But prosecutors prevailed in their argument that the public had the right to see the video to get a clear understanding of the evidence Graf had reviewed in private.
The video compilation not only appears to put Robinson at the scene of the crime, but it also appears to track nearly every movement he allegedly made on campus, including climbing on and jumping off the roof where the fatal shot was fired, according to prosecutors.
Graf will decide if prosecutors have established probable cause to warrant a trial for Robinson. Prosecutors have said they plan to seek the death penalty if Robinson goes to trial and is convicted in the September 2025 killing of Kirk during an open-air rally on the Orem, Utah, campus.
The compilation of raw video footage was taken from security cameras on the university campus, Sgt. David Hull of the Utah Department of Public Safety testified on Tuesday.
Graf also ruled that an enhanced version of the same video compilation featuring zoomed-in portions allegedly showing Robinson lying in a prone position on the roof of the UVU Losee Center, where the shot was fired, would not be made public at the preliminary hearing.
Utah prosecutors said the video is part of a mountain of evidence against Robinson
Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of the conservative youth movement Turning Point USA and a strong ally of President Donald Trump, was fatally shot on Sept. 10, 2025, while holding the first stop of his “The American Comeback Tour.”
Kirk was at an amphitheater on the UVU campus taking a question about gun violence in America when a single shot rang out from a distance away, hitting him in the left side of his neck.
For the second day in a row, Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, and his parents, Robert and Kathryn Kirk, attended the hearing, along with President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., who was friends with Kirk.
During his testimony on Tuesday, Sgt. Hull said that on the day of the shooting, Robinson was seen on video making at least three visits to the campus in a car and on foot.
Hull testified that the campus officer, using what he described as “cop intuition,” took down the license plate number of Robinson’s car, which he said later helped investigators identify Robinson as the suspect in the shooting.
Hull testified that the campus officer, using what he described as “cop intuition,” took down the license plate number of Robinson’s car, which later helped investigators identify Robinson as the suspect in the shooting.
One of the videos in the compilation allegedly showed Robinson walking into a wooded area near the campus and reemerging on campus, apparently after changing his clothes, Hull testified. Police later said they discovered the rifle used in the shooting, a Mauser .30-06, in the same wooded area where Robinson was seen going to and from.
Another video apparently captured Robinson walking with a limp up a staircase leading to the roof of the Losee Center. Investigators have previously alleged that Robinson had concealed the weapon in his pant leg as he headed to where he allegedly shot Kirk.
Robinson surrendered to authorities on the night of Sept. 11, 2025, after his father contacted law enforcement officials and told them he recognized his son in photographs of the suspect released by authorities, officials said.
The defendant has been charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering and commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child.
Robinson has yet to enter a plea to the charges, and his attorneys have not issued any statements on his guilt or innocence.
