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Teen Fatally Stabbed at Internet Cafe in Fight Over Seat, NYPD Says

By Trevor Kapp | April 27, 2017 1:04pm
 Yangpu Fan, 19, of Flushing, was stabbed in the torso after a fight over these computers at K&D internet cafe, police said.
Yangpu Fan, 19, of Flushing, was stabbed in the torso after a fight over these computers at K&D internet cafe, police said.
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DNAinfo/Trevor Kapp

FLUSHING — A 19-year-old was stabbed to death in an internet cafe during a fight over a seat, according to police and the manager.

Yangpu Fan, of Flushing, was with a group of teens inside the K&D internet cafe at 38-19 Union St. Wednesday when they demanded 51-year-old Paul Kim give up his seat at a computer around 9 p.m., according to Paul Chen, 51, manager at K&D.

"The kids came and they wanted to sit together, but [Kim] was sitting in a corner. They told him to give up his seat. The guy refused and they had an argument. An employee said, 'Don't argue.' The kids left, but then they came back with two or three more people. They argued with him again. Then they left again and we thought everything was over," Chen said.

Fan, who lived blocks from the cafe, took himself to New York Hospital-Queens by private transport, police said, and was treated for a stab wound to the torso. He died of his injuries there, police said.

Police returned to the internet cafe where Kim was still sitting at his computer, and arrested him there, they said. A knife was recovered at the scene.

"The police came and said someone got stabbed, but nobody noticed it happen. There was no blood," Chen added, saying police initially questioned the suspect, but did not arrest him right away.

"They handcuffed him, then they let him go, so he stayed here. Then the police came back again later. They put him in handcuffs again and took his stuff," Chen added.

He added Kim, whom police said was homeless, was "a regular customer. He was always smiling. He'd buy Monster drinks. He seemed like a nice guy."

"I feel very sad. This was all over a seat," Chen said.

John Del Signore contributed reporting.