2 Dead, 1 Seriously Hurt in New York City Stabbing Spree

Two people died and one other was seriously injured on Monday in New York City following a spree of stabbings.

The Stabbings

Authorities said the 51-year-old suspect was taken into custody after being found with bloodstained clothing and two kitchen knives in his possession. The identities of both the suspect and the victims have not yet been disclosed.

Investigators are working to determine what triggered the rampage, which unfolded over the course of just two and a half hours.

The rampage began shortly before 8:30 a.m. local time on West 19th Street, where a 36-year-old construction worker was fatally stabbed while standing near his job site along the Hudson River. Approximately two hours later, on the opposite side of Manhattan, a 68-year-old man was assaulted while fishing along the East River near East 30th Street.

New York Police Department’s chief of detectives, Joseph Kenny, said both the men died after the stabbings.

The suspect then moved north along the riverfront, according to authorities. At approximately 10:55 a.m., a 36-year-old woman was repeatedly stabbed near the United Nations headquarters on East 42nd Street. She remains hospitalized in critical condition, officials said.

A cabdriver witnessed the third stabbing and quickly alerted police stationed at First Avenue and East 46th Street, authorities said. Officers swiftly apprehended the suspect.

Authorities said the suspect in Monday’s rampage, who appears to be homeless, was sentenced in a criminal case earlier this year and arrested last month in connection with a grand larceny case.

Crime in New York City

The attacks occurred in a city where crime has remained a focal point of political debate and public concern, amplified by the social and economic disruptions of the pandemic. While homicides in New York City have dropped by 14 percent over the past two years, serious assaults have risen by approximately 12 percent, according to police data.

Recent stabbings in public spaces have heightened concerns, including a deadly attack at the Coney Island subway station just a few weeks ago. Monday’s rampage occurred nearly three years after a series of stabbings along a subway line left two people dead and two others injured within hours.

In 2019, a brutal attack in Chinatown left four homeless individuals dead and a fifth seriously injured as they slept in doorways and on sidewalks during the early hours of a Saturday morning.

What Officials Are Saying

“Three New Yorkers. Unprovoked attacks that left us searching for answers on how something like this could happen,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference following the stabbings.

Kenny also described the attacks by saying, “No words exchanged. No property taken. Just attacked, viciously.”

“He just walked up to them and began to attack them with the knives,” the chief of detectives added.

This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.