NEW YORK, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- A woman responded to being attacked by a group of assailants on a New York subway by fatally stabbing one of her attackers, police say.
Police said as many as eight individuals initially confronted the female victim at a New York eatery and later attempted to remove her from the subway, but the woman was able to fatally stab one of the assailants and escape, the New York Daily News said Friday.
"They tried to physically drag her off the train, but she fights back," an unidentified police officer said.
The alleged attacker killed in the incident was identified as Thomas Winston, 29.
Ricardo Josephs, who witnessed the incident, told the Daily News the surviving attackers did not end their assault after one of their own was stabbed.
"They all jumped over the turnstiles after her," Josephs said of the woman's escape. "She got on the Queens (-bound F) train. They tried to grab her; they tried to hold the train -- but she got away."
Investigators suspect the woman fatally stabbed Winston in self-defense, a police source said. The woman has not been identified.
