MANCHESTER, NH — A homeless man, reportedly stabbed early Monday afternoon, was later the victim of a beating about 8:20 p.m., an assault those at the nearby shelter say was witnessed by many people.
“Who’s the worst? The person who did it or the people who watched it and did nothing,” said Reiner, 25, who declined to give his last name. Reiner identified the man who was injured as his friend, Michael, 36. He was the first friend Reiner said he made when he arrived in Manchester three months ago.
The assailant, Reiner said, later bragged about what he’d done.
“He was a good guy,” Reiner said of Michael. “He was the best person I ever met.”
Reiner said he was on the sidewalk Monday night near the shelter, talking with Michael minutes before he was attacked. He left the area only to return later to find his friend badly hurt. Reiner said he located a preacher to give his friend Last Rites.
Heather Hamel, Public Information Officer for the Manchester Police Department, said Tuesday morning that the man remains in the Elliot Hospital where he is being treated for serious injuries including a fractured skull and brain bleed.
Police said they were called about 8:20 p.m. Monday, July 1, 2019, to the New Horizons shelter at 199 Manchester St. for a report of an unconscious man.
The man was laying in the street and bleeding from his ear.
He was rushed to the hospital. Police said the injured man had cuts on his hand and shoulder that doctors determined happened earlier.
Police said bystanders were unable to give a clear account of what happened or who was responsible.
Through interviews, investigators determined the night assault was the second fight the man had gotten into on Monday.
In the first assault, police said the man was stabbed between 1 and 2 p.m. near Down The Block convenience store, about a block away from the shelter. A store clerk said police viewed their video surveillance but that the assault was not recorded.
Ria, who is homeless, said there are families and then there are street families. A group of homeless people, a street family, she explained, watched the attack. “A bunch of people watched it,” she said.
She said Michael was one of the first people she met when she came to Manchester. Standing outside the shelter, she said she and Michael would frequently chat there. “People here are family,” she explained. “Everybody goes together.”
The investigation is continuing and police urge anyone with information concerning the assault to call them at 668-8711 or leave an anonymous tip on the Manchester Crimeline online, or by calling 624-4040.
