A lone madman is believed to have stabbed to death two homeless people and killed two more for a 14-hour run along train line A, police said Saturday when they announced a massive manhunt for the bloodthirsty suspect.
The two murders occurred at opposite ends of the line from Friday to Saturday, one in Inwood in Manhattan, the northernmost end, and another at the southernmost point of the line, in the Queens Rockaways, with the two victims found fallen. in pools of blood, either in or under the subway seats.
Two surviving victims help police identify their attacker, preliminarily described by officials as a lighter-skinned man who was only five feet tall and wore a face mask.
“It appears three of these incidents are connected and the Detective’s Office is studying the possibility that all four have been committed by an individual,” Transit chief Kathleen O’Reilly told reporters at a news conference. from 2 p.m. at NYPD headquarters in lower Manhattan.
“We will work tirelessly to bring the person or individuals to justice,” he said.
Officials posted the following timeline:
-On Friday at 11:30 a.m., a 67-year-old man was stabbed by a random attacker while pushing his walker down the southbound platform at the A Street 18 station on Washington Heights train 181.
“And I’ll kill you!” he told police his attacker was shouting, according to sources. He was stabbed in the right knee and left buttocks; while surgery is required, he is expected to survive the attack.
It is preliminarily believed that this attack is related to three subsequent attacks.
– Twelve hours later, at 11:29 p.m., Friday, a man was found stabbed to death but still collapsed in his seat on an A train at Mott Avenue station on Far Rockaway.
He suffered stab wounds to the neck and torso and was pronounced dead at the scene.
-About two hours later, at 1:15 a.m. Saturday, a 44-year-old woman was found dead, again in a pool of blood, under the subway seat inside an A-train on the Inwood 207th Street Station.
She had been stabbed all over her body.
Shortly afterwards, at 1:28 a.m. Saturday morning, a 43-year-old man was stabbed randomly while sleeping in a stairwell at train station A at 181 West Street.
He tripped over a bench near W. 181st Street, but collapsed before entering the lobby, police said.
The victim is being treated at a local hospital for four stab wounds to his back and is in stable condition.
The 44-year-old woman was taken to Presbyterian-Allen Hospital in New York City, where she was pronounced dead, according to authorities.
It’s the worst subway crash since June 2006, when a homeless serial shuttle injured four people in a furious 13-hour train ride to Harlem and Rockefeller Center. All his victims survived.
And it’s the worst mass violence against homeless people since 2019, when four homeless men died on the verge of sleeping one night in Manhattan’s Chinatown.
“When this happened in October 2019, we said then that unless the city and state work together” to create homes with permanent support, “more violence will come,” said Joseph Loonam, campaign coordinator. of housing of Vocal-NY.
“And we’re heartbroken, but we’re not surprised to learn that this has happened again.”
Shocked passengers at Far Rockaway Mott Avenue station on train A called for intensified security measures on Saturday, suggesting an increase in patrols and even metal detectors.
“It’s scary. It’s really scary. I’ve never felt safe on the subway, but I’ve always known I had to catch them,” said 17-year-old Marissa Augustus.
“I’m scared of my life,” he added, “Every time I get on the train, it’s empty,” said Revern Sharp, 45.
“There is no police, that gives them [the criminals] jurisdiction a [do whatever] they want to do it on the train. Smoke, drink, do whatever is on the train, because they know that no police will come …
Maurice Moore, 33, said the subway is no longer safe at night.
“The police should be here more often. When I get home late, there are no policemen here, ”he said. “Between 8 in the morning and 5 in the afternoon you see them, but then you don’t see them.”
The pandemic has meant fewer people (and police) at the station, travelers said.
“People skip the turnstile, no one pays more. If you have a MetroCard, stupid … You need more cops on the subway. “
Those who live and work at the train stop 181 A said that the problem of homelessness has also grown during the pandemic, and this is also frightening.
“A lot of homeless people sleeping down there, like 40, 20. It’s scary for children, for women. The police don’t bother them, ”said Abdul Mohammed, who works at Fort Washington Candy and Grocery in 181 St.
“It’s scary to go down there,” he continued. “People sleeping, watching on the subway. These people scare me. “
Recently, Mayor Blasio voiced public concerns from New York City Commissioner Dermot Shea about a recent subway attack, which included a canal changer pushed into the tracks.
“We had an incredible and total disruption in 2020. All our lives were turned upside down, a global pandemic, a perfect storm, and we are in the process of overcoming it,” de Blasio said earlier this month as he tried to explain it. a duplication of subway murders.
The mayor did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday’s and Saturday’s train stabbing attacks.
Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, blamed City Hall for the increase, not the best in New York.
“Another failure of the mayor and those in charge of helping the homeless,” he said. “The traffic system is not a shelter for the homeless and the role of the police department in helping has been reduced to a minimum.”