A man fatally stabbed three people in Manhattan in a series of silent, random attacks, according to AP News.
The 51-year-old suspect was detained by police after he was found with blood on his clothes and two kitchen knives he was carrying, Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference.
Three New Yorkers. Unprovoked attacks that left us searching for answers on how something like this could happen.
Joseph Kenny, the New York Police Department’s chief of detectives, stated that investigators were looking into the causes of the rampage.
No words exchanged. No property taken. Just attacked, viciously. He just walked up to them and began to attack them with the knives.
The first stabbing on West 19th Street killed a 36-year-old construction worker who was standing at his workplace near the Hudson River. About two hours later, on the other side of Manhattan Island, a 68-year-old man, who was fishing in the East River near East 30th Street, was stabbed. Both men died shortly after the stab wounds, Kenny reported.
The suspect then travelled north near the waterfront. A 36-year-old woman was stabbed multiple times outside the UN headquarters on East 42nd Street. She died later Monday at a hospital, according to police. Officials said a passing taxi driver saw the third attack and alerted police at nearby First Avenue and East 46th Street. Police officers soon apprehended the suspect.
According to police statistics, the number of homicides in New York City in 2024 has dropped 14 per cent in two years, but serious assaults have risen by about 12 per cent. Some recent stabbings in public places have drawn national attention, including a fatal attack at the Coney Island underground station just a few weeks ago.
The suspect, allegedly homeless, had a felony conviction several months ago and was arrested in a grand larceny case last month.
