Member Beaten, Stabbed to Death in Club

NEW YORK -- A club member was beaten and stabbed to death in a dispute over an elliptical machine at the club, police say.

Douglas Smith, 50, was knifed and beaten with a hammer allegedly by Shawn Hing, 19, and an accomplice during a workout at Church Avenue Fitness in Brooklyn, NY, according to a report in the New York Daily News. Smith, who was attacked Saturday, died Sunday at a local hospital.

A fight ensued in the club over who had first dibs on a Nautilus elliptical machine, witnesses told the newspaper. One club member who was arguing with Smith allegedly summoned Hing and the accomplice for backup, the newspaper reported. Smith was on the machine when he was ambushed from behind, suffering three stabbings and a blow to the head with a hammer, witnesses say.

Hing was arrested on Sunday night and was arraigned in Brooklyn Criminal Court on Monday on a charge of second-degree murder, the Daily News reported. Court papers show Hing, who is being held without bail, was the one who hit Smith with the hammer, according to the newspaper. A manhunt is under way for Hing’s accomplice, and police are trying to question the club member who called Hing and the accomplice to the club, according to the newspaper.

Smith was a social worker in Brooklyn and also worked as a bouncer in a local bar. He got his master’s degree in psychology within the past year, the newspaper reported.