Chef Killed By Hammer-Wielding Man Inside Brooklyn Restaurant; 2 Others Critically Injured
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Investigators on Wednesday charged a man in connection with a random hammer attack Tuesday evening that left a restaurant employee dead.
Those who knew Fufai Pun were unable to make sense of the 34-year-old chef's brutal and unexpected death.
"(I'm) very surprised because he's very young guy. I very sad," neighbor Mei Ghang told CBS2.
Surveillance video shows panicked patrons and frantic employees at the Seaport Buffet, located on Emmons Avenue in Sheepshead Bay, running and trying to get to safety after police said a man burst into the restaurant armed with a hammer and began to attack.
"He was just screaming crazy words like, 'I'm killing everybody! This world is hell!' and everything. He was just screaming crazy things," said Samantha Randazzo, co-owner of Randazzo's Clam Bar.
Investigators said 34-year-old Arthur Martunovich, who has no known connection to the victims or the restaurant, entered the eatery at around 5 p.m. and began striking an employee near the door. They said he then went toward the back of the restaurant and hit another worker multiple times.
"I saw the Chinese guy, waiter. He was walking by this all bleeding. He hold his head, his two hands, and he fell by the door," said a customer who did not want to be named.
Detectives said Martunovich then went to the kitchen to go after a third victim, as frightened customers bolted, some of them running into Randazzo's restaurant nearby.
"We heard a guy say 'Lock all the doors. A guy is killing people,'" Randazzo said.
Those who escaped pointed out Martunovich to police. Surveillance video show officers chasing after him and taking him into custody a couple of blocks away.
When it was over, the 60-year-old male owner and 50-year-old male manager of the buffet were critically injured and chef Pun was rushed to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
"He's very nice man," Ghang said.
Sources told CBS2 Martunovich informed police that he was hearing voices. He is expected to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
Martunovich has been charged with murder, attempted murder, and criminal possession of a weapon.