A man is in custody in connection with three unprovoked stabbings that killed two men and critically injured a woman in Manhattan Monday morning, officials said.
The 51-year-old suspect, whose name has not yet been released, was taken into custody in Midtown East after the third attack, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at a news briefing.
What You Need To Know
- A man is in custody in connection with three unprovoked stabbings that killed two men and critically injured a woman in Manhattan Monday morning, officials said
- The attacks happened in Chelsea, Kips Bay and Midtown East within the span of several hours, police said
- The 51-year-old suspect, whose name has not yet been released, was taken into custody in Midtown East after the third attack, the NYPD said
“We want New Yorkers to know that we are not looking for any additional suspects at this time,” Mayor Eric Adams said at the briefing. “Our heart goes out to the families, goes out to other New Yorkers who observed such a terrible action."
Kenny said the first attack happened just before 8:30 a.m. in Chelsea, when a 36-year-old construction worker standing in front of his work site on West 19th Street, between Ninth and 10th avenues, was stabbed in the abdomen.
The worker was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Kenny said.
Two hours later, a 68-year-old man who was fishing along the East River at East 30th Street was stabbed multiple times, according to Kenny. That man was also pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital, he said.
About 30 minutes later, a 36-year-old woman was stabbed several times at East 42nd Street and First Avenue in Midtown East, Kenny said. The woman was listed in critical condition at a nearby hospital.
Kenny said police took the suspect into custody at East 46th Street and First Avenue soon after. A cab driver who witnessed the woman being attacked alerted the police, he said.
The suspect's clothes were covered in blood, and police recovered two bloody kitchen knives at the scene, Kenny said.
Kenny said the suspect — who appeared to be homeless — has eight prior arrests, most recently for grand larceny last month.
“We are still looking over his record, but there’s a real question on why he was on the street,” Adams said at the briefing. “It is preliminary now, but he was sentenced a few months ago, and there’s some real questions that we need to look at on why he was on the street, and he has some severe mental health issues that should have been examined, and that’s what we’re looking, that’s part of the investigation.”
Police didn’t immediately release the names of the suspect or the victims. An investigation is ongoing.