Two Men Dead, One Women Wounded in Knifing Spree Across Manhattan: Suspect Arrested
The third knifing suspect is in critical condition and “fighting for her life,” according to police.
| 18 Nov 2024 | 03:35
Police were alerted to the suspects whereabouts after a cab driver saw the suspect leaving the third attack, The cab driver thought the injured person had been the victim of a robbery and trailed the suspect who was brought into custody. (
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The three attacks seem to be entirely random, and none of the victims seemed to have provoked the suspect in any way, police said. The above is near the scene of the third attack on 42nd St. and First Ave. (
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According to police, one of the three stabbing victims is “fighting for her life” at New York-Presbyterian. (
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A man stabbed three people on Nov. 18, killing two of them and leaving one hospitalized in critical condition, according to police at a press conference following the suspect’s arrest.
All three attacks appear to be entirely random and unprovoked, Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny said the suspect just “walked up to them and began to attack them with the knives.”
The first attack was at 8:22 a.m. outside 444 W 19th St. Police say a hispanic male in his early 40s was fatally stabbed in the abdomen outside a construction site where he worked. He was rushed to Bellevue Hospital but could not be saved. He was pronounced dead at 8:50 a.m.
The alleged perpetrator then moved by foot to E. 30th Street, near the FDR, stabbing an Asian man who was fishing on the East River Esplanade around 10:25 a.m. The victim was also brought to Bellevue Hospital and declared dead.
Then, police say the alleged perpetrator moved to E. 42nd Street and 1st Avenue, near the U.N. building. At roughly 10:55 a.m., he stabbed a 36-year-old Black woman multiple times throughout her body. She is currently “fighting for her life” at the New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center, according to police.
Thinking the suspect had committed a robbery, a hero taxi driver followed the individual after the third attack and alerted police.
The suspect’s name was not released, but he was described as a white male between his 50s and 60s wearing a gray shirt and ski hat. He seemed to have used two kitchen knives to carry out the attacks. When the suspect—who police said has eight prior arrests—was brought in by police on Nov. 18, his clothes and the two weapons were all covered in blood.
Mayor Eric Adams at a press conference called the attacks a “clear, clear example of the criminal justice system—mental health system—that continues to fail New Yorkers.” He added that these were “unprovoked attacks that left us searching for answers on how something like this could happen.”
The three victims are not being publicly identified pending notification of family members.
Police believe the suspect acted alone, and there is no clear motive behind the random attacks. “The investigation is going to continue to unfold,” according to Adams. He did make it clear, though, that the NYPD is not pursuing any other suspects at this point.