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Suspect In Fatal Subway Fight Still At Large

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - One person is dead and another is being sought by police after a fight on a subway train spilled onto the platform and ended up on the tracks.

It was a frightening incident in front of hundreds of witnesses at the Bedford Avenue train station in Brooklyn at around 10 p.m. Friday.

WCBS 880's Sophia Hall reports

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Police say a confrontation following a verbal dispute between two men on the L train spilled onto the platform when the train stopped and then escalated into a full-blown fight.

Fatal subway fight suspect
Police sketch of the subway fight suspect (credit: DCPI)

Both men fell onto the tracks, but one was able to climb back to safety and flee the scene. The other man however, remained on the tracks and was hit by an oncoming train.

1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck reports

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Police closed the subway station for several hours as crime scene investigators gathered more information about how the incident happened.

"There was a woman kneeling beside [the victim] and she was doing the best she could," one witness said.

Police have identified the victim as 20-year-old Joshua Basin, a junior at LaGuardia Community College from Howard Beach.

"He never fought with his friends. He was so easy going. Everybody knew him. He had a million friends," said Zena Basin, Joshua's mother. "If you met him once, you will never forget him. Everybody liked him. He wasn't a fighter, he was happy-go-lucky."

Investigators are calling his death a homicide and say they are looking for a suspect, a white male in his early 30s.

"I need justice for him. I need whoever did this to be caught, I really do," said Zena Basin. "I need all of you to try to do something. Help the cops do something. Please."

"He was a good kid. I really don't know what he did on his off time. He told me he was going to school and everything. It's been awhile since we hung out, but I would see him around and say hi and everything," said William Baez, who knew the victim for 15 years.

Basin has just one request of the alleged suspect.

"Turn yourself in," she declared. "I need to find out why he did that. There is no reason."

So far, no one has been arrested. The investigation is still ongoing. Anyone with information is urged to call the authorities.

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