Sources To CBS2: Man Suspected In Attacks On Asian Women Found Dead
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The search for a man wanted in a string of attacks on Asian women has come to a bizarre end, according to sources late Monday.
As CBS2's Jessica Schneider reported, sources close to the investigation confirmed to CBS2 that a body found in a building on Madison Avenue on the Upper East Side was that of Tyrelle Shaw, 25. He had died in an apparent suicide, sources said.
Investigators spent the last few weeks warning people to be on alert for Shaw.
Man Suspected In Attacks On Asian Women Found Dead
He was suspected in at least four attacks targeting Asian women, and had been identified by name by police.
The string of attacks began a week ago last Wednesday around 4:15 p.m. on Grand Street. Police believe Shaw tried talking to a 35-year-old woman, but when she ignored him, he returned and smacked her in the face with an object concealed in a white plastic bag.
Another attack took place at Park Avenue and East 30th Street later that night.
Early Friday, another attack was reported on Second Avenue and East 60th Street.
The fourth attack took place Monday afternoon on Mulberry Street.
In the past week, police pinpointed a block at Madison Avenue and East 66th Street as somewhere the suspect might be hiding out. They were called to the building at 766 Madison Ave. at least six times in the past year, amid reports that someone was squatting in the building, Schneider reported.
Karen DeRosa said officers came to her door asking if she had seen him.
"They just asked if I recognized this person; if I saw him walking around the neighborhood," she said. "And I did not."
Late Monday afternoon, sources close to the investigation said they found Shaw dead in an elevator shaft.
Karen Bennett works on the fifth floor of the building.
"The morning when I came in at about quarter of nine, it smelled terrible in the elevator -- and it still does," Bennett said.
Bennett said she and her employees had several run-ins with a man matching Shaw's description.
She showed CBS2 surveillance images of a man she believes is Shaw breaking into her office this past fall. She said it happened at least six times.
"One of my coworkers encountered him. He just picked up his phone and walked out when he encountered him," Bennett said. "We couldn't even stop him."
Shaw kept a blog under the name "Mr. Talented," sources told CBS2.
Police said he ranted on the blog about his plight to hurt Asian women, with remarks such as, "I will hit over a million Asian Women in the face with a stick will change history."
He also wrote: "Every Asian woman by herself must be hit in the face. I may even take a photo before hitting them. The reason is because I don't think Asian women like me."
Schneider reported Shaw wrote that he also wanted to take his own life, writing, "Actually, I've already tied a noose to the bottom of an elevator and I'm going to wait until someone pushes a button."
The most recent entry on the "Mr. Talented" blog appeared just four days before Shaw's body was found.
People who live and work nearby said they had no idea a body was found in the Madison Avenue building, Schneider reported. Nearby workers said they did see police on the scene Monday, but they were not told why.
