The stabbing happened shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday morning inside the…
By Chris Fuchs
A Kentucky man was fatally stabbed inside a Flushing nightclub early Saturday morning during a brawl between two Asian gangs that the police said stemmed from an argument in February.
The stabbing happened shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday morning inside the Take One Club, at 36-51 Main St., said Lt. Jack Shatinsky, the commander of the 109th Precinct detective squad in Flushing. The lieutenant said there were as many as 14 patrons involved in the fight, which happened inside a VIP room in the nightclub.
Shatinsky said the club does employ private security, but none were able to break up the fight or detain the assailants because they were guarding the front entrance, and the VIP room is in the back of the club.
The victim, Tong Quiang, 28, of Kentucky, was stabbed once through the heart and was slashed about the throat and arms, the lieutenant said. He was taken to New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens, where he was pronounced dead, the police said.
The lieutenant said the argument was provoked by a fight that happened in Flushing on Feb. 14 between two groups, one of Chinese-American descent and the other of Fuzhounese descent. The Chinese-American gang, the police said, initiated the altercation Friday night, but it was unclear whether the victim was a member of either group.
“The victim of the homicide in all probability is an innocent guy who got caught in there,” the lieutenant said.
The stabbing at the nightclub Saturday morning comes six months after a Flushing man was wounded by gunfire outside a restaurant on 37th Avenue near Main Street, a shooting that was fueled by an argument that also started inside the Take One Night Club.
The man was shot once in the right foot and once in the left calf by five men with whom he argued, according to a complaint filed by the Queens district attorney. Soon after the shooting, police officers from the 109th Precinct arrested five men, who were charged variously with attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
Reach reporter Chris Fuchs by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 156.
