Witness: Man stabbed to death after argument over saying ‘thank you’

NEW YORK — An argument over etiquette apparently led to a deadly stabbing late Tuesday in New York City.

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The stabbing happened just before 10:30 p.m. outside of a smoke shop in Brooklyn, where police told WCBS that two men got into an argument.

“It was just about not saying ‘thank you’ for opening the door for him,” Kharef Alsaidi, a store employee who witnessed the attack, told WABC. Alsaidi told the station that the victim opened the door for the suspect, and then asked him, “Why don’t you say, ‘Thank you for opening the door?’” to which the suspect allegedly responded, “I didn’t tell you to open the door for me.”

Alsaidi told WABC that the verbal dispute took a turn when the victim taunted the suspect, challenging him to “stab me if you can do it.”

Police said the 37-year-old victim was rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. The suspect fled on an e-bike, WCBS reported.

“I tried to de-escalate the problem by telling the guy, ‘Just put the knife away. He’s not worth it. It’s not worth it,” Alsaidi told WABC. “I did my best to de-escalate, but nothing worked.”

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