Man linked to attacks on Asian women in New York found dead: Police

A 25-year-old man wanted in connection with a series of attacks on Asian woman in New York has been found dead in an elevator shaft, days after he posted online that he would hang himself in an elevator shaft.

Tyrelle D Shaw had apparently hanged himself, the police said. Shaw's body was found inside an elevator shaft in the basement of 766 Madison Avenue on the Upper East Side on Monday after tenants reported a foul smell, police said. They said it was unclear how many days he had been there.

Shaw's relatives went to the police last week after seeing surveillance video released by the police. They had been concerned about recent posts on his blog describing his infatuation with Asian women, claiming responsibility for the attacks and outlining his intention to end his life, the New York Times quoted officials as saying.

In a post on June 17, he said he would hang himself in an elevator shaft by tying a noose to the bottom of an elevator and waiting for someone to press a button.

"He said he was going to hang himself in an elevator shaft, and that's exactly what he did," the paper quoted a police official as saying. The police do not suspect foul play, the official said, and investigators are trying to determine why the man chose the building and how he gained access to it.

The police were seeking Shaw in connection with four assaults carried out from June 10 to June 15. The attacks are being investigated as possible hate crimes.

Police said each time the attacker struck the victim in the face with a hard object wrapped in plastic bag. All of the victims were Asian women between the ages of 29 and 41.

"I never agreed with violence," Shaw wrote in a blog post describing the attacks, "but I knew the only way I could overcome that sense of rejection-would start by assaulting the women that carelessly rejected me."