Man Stabs Two in Queens, Then Drives Into Their Helpers, Police Say

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Just before dawn on Sunday, outside a hookah bar in the Richmond Hill neighborhood of Queens, a brutal fight broke out over a prosaic urban commodity: a parking space.

The fight turned deadly when one of the men involved stabbed two others, then, moments later, drove his car onto the sidewalk and plowed into a crowd that was tending to his victims, the police said. One man was killed, and six people were injured. Among them were the stabbing victims and others who had bones broken by the car.

David Barrere, an assistant chief of the New York Police Department, explained what happened at a news conference at the scene on Sunday afternoon. Nearby, glass and blood strewed the road, not 50 feet from where the body of the man who was killed had lain for hours under a white tarp on Sunday morning before emergency crews took him away. Police identified the man as Richardo Chattergoon, 23.

The fight began at 4:30 a.m. on Liberty Avenue, outside XS NYC, between a man in a white Hyundai sedan and two others in a BMW, according to the police. Officials did not provide further detail how the fight started. As the argument grew heated, all three stepped out of their cars. The man in the Hyundai took out a knife and plunged it into the torsos of the other men, then got back in his car and drove partway down the street, the police said.

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A group of people who had seen the attack came to the aid of the two wounded men, and they began to help the pair down Liberty Avenue. In an instant, the police said, the white Hyundai returned, mounting the sidewalk at 128th Street and plowing into the group.

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Six people were hit. Mr. Chattergoon was crushed and died at the scene, according to police. A 29-year-old man who had also been stabbed was in critical condition, the police said. Four others, three men and one woman, were injured by the car. All were taken to Jamaica Medical Center for injuries that included a broken pelvis and a broken leg.

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Rahul Gandhi set to be opposition Congress party chief

NEW DELHI (AP) — Rahul Gandhi, the scion of India’s Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, submitted nomination papers Monday to succeed his mother as president of main opposition Congress party that has governed the country for decades.

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Without a serious rival for the top party post, Gandhi is set to be elected Dec. 16.

He faces a challenging task of reinvigorating his party, which was ousted from power by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in 2014. Modi is expected to seek re-election for a second five-year term in 2019 national elections.

The task is even more formidable with the Congress party suffering humiliating defeats in recent state elections, notably in Uttar Pradesh state, despite Gandhi’s active campaigning to win back people’s support.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced Gandhi’s nomination at party headquarters. “This is yet another step in quest for serving the people through the Congress party,” he said.

Gandhi entered politics in 2004, holding a parliamentary seat representing northern Uttar Pradesh state. The seat was held by his mother until she shifted to a neighboring constituency. He was appointed party vice president, a position behind her, in 2013.

Sonia Gandhi has led the party for 19 years. She has had health problems but the family and party have given little information. She had surgery in the United States for an undisclosed reason in 2011, and has returned to the U.S. for regular checkups since then.

Rahul Gandhi will be the sixth member of the Nehru-Gandhi family to lead Congress. His father Rajiv Gandhi, grandmother Indira Gandhi and grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru have served as prime ministers since India’s independence from British colonialists in 1947.

Party workers have been demanding Rahul Gandhi’s elevation since 2013, but he shied away from holding a top position until now.

His supporters argued he was rebuilding the party at the grassroots level and has taken a lead in the Congress’ campaigns in state elections in Uttar Pradesh and in Bihar in recent years. The party performed poorly in both states’ elections last year.

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