Slay suspect kills self in Philly [stabbing death outside main New York City post office]

New York Post ^ | September 30, 2009 | JOHN DOYLE, PERRY CHIARAMONTE and LUKAS I. ALPERT

[ETL]

The Army vet who emerged as the No. 1 suspect in a vicious fatal stabbing outside the main post office is believed to have committed suicide in his girlfriend's Philadelphia apartment, The Post has learned.

[snip]

Earlier yesterday, authorities said they had begun to focus on McCaulla after a cop who served with him in the Army recognized him from photos taken outside the James A. Farley Post Office slaying scene.

Surveillance cameras captured the bloody slaying and the moments before it, which Commissioner Ray Kelly described as a simple street altercation that turned deadly.

"The killer is walking north and the victim is walking south. It looks like they bump shoulders and they walk past each other, I would say 10 or 12 feet. They turn around and words are exchanged," Kelly said.

"The victim takes his coat off as if they are going to have a fist fight and assumes a stance like a fighter."

As the killer approaches, "he has something down at his side which turns out to be a knife," and then "lunges and makes four quick strokes or jabs into the victim," Kelly said.

[ETL]

Both victim and suspect had loved ones in Pennsylvania and had or planned to join the military. If they had only known they had they similarities, perhaps the fight would never had broken out. -etl

"The Army vet who emerged as the No. 1 suspect
in a vicious fatal stabbing outside the main post office
is believed to have committed suicide in his girlfriend's
Philadelphia apartment, The Post has learned."
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/slay_suspect_kills_self_in_philly_HJMPNGTVQMk6UveUMWbVBM
_____________________________________________

"Gutierrez [the victim, age 20], who has a 1-year-old son living in Pennsylvania with the boy's mother, was planning on getting his GED through the Job Corps and then enlisting in the military, his relatives said."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/stabber_nabbed_on_film_seQRHytiMkriNktA4l1frI

[ETL]

The post office is located on 42nd Street in Manhattan, directly across from Madison Square Garden.

[Clemenza]

Soon the be Moynihan Train Station. I’ve been in that post office (and on those steps) on many an occassion. There are usually a few scary looking homeless folks around, but I never saw any stabbings. A shame for all parties involved.

[Pharmboy]

Geez...this saves the state money. What a sad thing that the victim died from the stab...

[ETL]

If they had only known they had they [these] similarities, perhaps...

[Niteranger68]

"The victim takes his coat off as if they are going to have a fist fight and assumes a stance like a fighter."

Don't bring an attitude to a knife fight.....

[ETL]

UPDATE PING.

[McBuff]

Nay, Nay. . 8th ave between 32nd and 33rd

[Condor51]

"The victim takes his coat off as if they are going to have a fist fight and assumes a stance like a fighter."

Uh.. based on news reports yesterday from family interviews, that needs some 'touching up'.

"The aggressor, Gutierrez, whom family members said had a bad temper, often mouthed off and was confrontational, takes his coat off as if they are going to have a fist fight and assumes a stance like a fighter. Sirmone McCaulla defedended himself with a knife and Gutierrez died at the scene from stab wounds"

Sirmone McCaulla acted in self defense and should have plead that way. 'The Victim' was noooooooo angel. He was kicked out of several schools and couldn't get in the Military if he tried.

(his father is in Prison and and his older brother just got out -- great family upbringing)

[ETL]

Nay, Nay. . 8th ave between 32nd and 33rd

Thanks for the correction. I got it confused with the big library on 42nd Street. However, I was correct that it's right across the street from Madison Square Garden.

[TalonDJ]

Don't bring an attitude to a knife fight.....

Don't bring a knife and an attitude to a fist fight if you ever want to plead 'self defense'.

[erman]

I don't know the particulars of this fight but the similarities to a couple of fights is pretty weird. There was two brothers from Houston that got into an argument with a Marine at a bar here in College Station and they took it outside. Both "victims" were over 6'6" and the Marine was maybe about 5'9". Bottom line is he killed one with multiple stab wounds and the other went to the OR.

Same thing with a fight at a fair earlier that same month. Two men squared off in a parking lot and the result was a stabbing with a death. Both situations involved vets with civilian and the vets that had served overseas.

I'm thinking that men with combat training know how to fight. Unfortunately the civilian public doesn't realize that in the Armed Forces you fight to the death if you've been in combat or are on adrenalin and well trained. Adding alcohol, drugs or mental disorder just makes you more likely to miss that "end point" and take the fight "all the way".

Just another thing to think about.......

[Condor51]

*** I don't know the particulars of this fight ***

There was a thread on it yesterday from the NY Daily News. And links to articles in the NY Post. That's were his sister admitted Gutierrez had an attitude, was always 'mouthing off' and looking for a fight. Naturally, mama said he was 'a good boy'. (at 20 you're no longer 'a boy')

And you're right about Vets today. they're all trained to kill -- and rightfully so, not play 'fist fight with a street thug'.

As to ex-GI Sirmone McCaulla having a knife, whoopy. I've carried a knife since I was six (I'm 61 now) and I go NOWHERE without at least one on me₍₁₎. And I know how to use them. (growing up in Chi makes that mandatory)

NCIS Special Agent Gibbs' Rule #9: Don't go anywhere without your knife.

[TalonDJ]

And you're right about Vets today. they're all trained to kill -- and rightfully so, not play 'fist fight with a street thug

That is all well and good but when walking down a public street in the US you are not playing soldier. Using lethal force in a situation that does not warrant it is not legal. Using lethal force after picking a fight with someone, even someone bigger than you, if you had an option to deescalate, is murder. Perhaps soldiers returning from combat training need a class in judicious use of force, like what most concealed handgun carriers get.

I sometimes carry a knife but I more often carry a gun. When carrying I have the responsibility to not go playing tough-guy. A jury is going to look pretty hard at what actions were taken to defuse the situation prior to violence.

Anyone that does not know when NOT to use a weapon has no business carrying it.

[Lurker]

"The killer is walking north and the victim is walking south. It looks like they bump shoulders and they walk past each other, I would say 10 or 12 feet. They turn around and words are exchanged," Kelly said. "The victim takes his coat off as if they are going to have a fist fight and assumes a stance like a fighter."

There's a lesson in here folks. Always walk away if you can. Always.

[Palladin]

Sad story all around.

Condolences to the families.

[dead]

Scumbag kills moron, then self.

The end.

[ETL]

It was extremely sick of the one guy to pull out a knife and stab the other. However, without knowing what exactly went down regarding the ‘bumping’ incident, I wouldn’t be too fast to criticize the victim.

[ETL]

From NY-1 News...
Updated 12:50 PM ET

Stabbing Suspect Found Dead In Philadelphia

Law enforcement sources tell NY1 the man wanted in connection with the fatal stabbing outside the main post office in Midtown on Sunday has been found dead in Philadelphia.

Sirmone McCaulla, 28, was found at 6 p.m. yesterday in the bathtub at his ex-girlfriend's apartment on Pine Street, sources say. There was allegedly a cable box or another type of electronic equipment in the tub with him and he had a bag over his head.

He posted a suicide note on MySpace at 5:06 p.m.

Philadelphia police will only confirm there was an investigation conducted with the New York City Police Department overnight, but would not say what it was about.

Sources say the family is en route to Philadelphia to identify the body.

McCaulla, who was a military veteran, was being sought in the stabbing death of 20-year-old Christopher Gutierrez. Police identified him from photos taken at the scene of the argument.

Police say the deadly altercation between McCaulla and Gutierrez began after the two bumped shoulders outside the Farley Post Office on 33rd Street and Eight Avenue. The argument quickly escalated.

"The victim takes his coat off, looking like they're going to have a fistfight," said Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. "Indeed, the victim assumes a stance like a fighter. The perpetrator does something of a similar nature, but has something down by his side, which turns out to be knife."

A woman who answered the door at McCaulla's mother's apartment denied the man's involvement in the altercation.

"You misconstrued everything, everything," she said this morning. "Just stay away."

Police say McCaulla has a criminal record that consists of arrests for burglary and assault.

A friend of Gutierrez's family says his mother is angered by the death of her son's alleged killer. She says McCaulla should have faced trial and received life in prison.

Gutierrez will be laid to rest on Friday at Ortiz Funeral Home on the Lower East Side.

http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/106565/stabbing-suspect-found-dead-in-philadelphia/Default.aspx

[Pharmboy]

Nope...2 blocks long. Between 31 and 33.

[erman]

As to ex-GI Sirmone McCaulla having a knife, whoopy. I've carried a knife since I was six (I'm 61 now) and I go NOWHERE without at least one on me(1).

I agree.... if not a Sig... I carry a knife. I hope never to have to get close enough to have to use it. But I figure adrenalin will cure that if it comes down to it.