Suspect released from psych ward allegedly pushes elderly man down subway stairs
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Rhamell Burke, 32, had just been released from a psychiatric ward when he allegedly pushed an elderly man down a flight of stairs in Manhattan on Thursday night, killing him, the New York Post reported.
Officers detained Burke and took him to Bellevue Hospital on Thursday afternoon, a New York Police Department source told Fox News Digital.
Officers reportedly flagged him as an “emotionally disturbed individual.” According to the Post.
However, after just over an hour, Burke was released. Five hours later, Burke allegedly pushed 76-year-old former teacher Ross Falzone down the subway stairs in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, killing the older man, an NYPD source confirmed to Fox News Digital.
Police told the Post that Burke was “acting erratically” outside the NYPD station when they arrested him. He was allegedly holding a stick in his hand, which he took from the trash can.
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Rhamell Burke, 32, allegedly pushed and killed 76-year-old Ross Falzone on Thursday. Burke had been released from Bellevue Hospital’s psychiatric ward hours before the alleged murder. (WNYW)
“We brought him in at 3:30 p.m. and he was released just before 5 p.m. By the way, if you or I walked into Bellevue with a headache, it would have taken 8 hours just to be seen. The NYPD uses their involuntary suspension powers all the time. And they come right out with an Advil,” a senior NYPD officer told the Post.
Officers reportedly found Falzone unconscious and unresponsive and took him to Bellevue, where he was pronounced dead.
Authorities said he suffered a traumatic brain injury, a right rib fracture and a spinal fracture, according to the Post.
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“He’s just a desperate old man. What a cowardly and stupid thing to do,” Falzone’s neighbor Marc Stager told the Post.
When officers arrested Burke on Thursday, it was his fifth arrest of 2026. Burke was arrested in February for robbery, resisting arrest and assaulting a Port Authority police officer, and in April for allegedly assaulting a stranger, according to the Post.
Rhamell Burke, 32, appears to be escorted away by New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers after he allegedly fatally pushed 76-year-old Ross Falzone down the subway stairs. (WNYW)
“There is no anger we can express and shock,” said Falzone’s sister, Donna. he told ABC7 Eyewitness News. “I mean, getting a call like that at 4 a.m. in the morning, finding out your brother was minding his own business, three witnesses, and being walked down the stairs and left to die.”
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Donna also revealed that her brother is a retired special education teacher with a doctorate from Columbia University.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a city investigation into how Bellevue handled Burke’s psychiatric evaluation following the murder.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a May Day rally in Washington Square Park in New York City on May 1, 2026. (Yuki Iwamura/AP)
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“I am horrified by the murder of Ross Falzone and the circumstances that led to it. I offer my condolences to his loved ones,” Mamdani said in a statement. he said.
“New Yorkers deserve answers. That’s why I’ve directed NYC Health + Hospitals to conduct both an immediate investigation into what steps should have been taken to prevent this tragedy and a comprehensive review of psychiatric evaluation and discharge protocols,” he said.
Fox News Digital contacted the NYPD, the mayor’s office and Bellevue Hospital for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
