Two men were killed and a woman was injured Monday in a series of stabbing attacks on the island of Manhattan in central New York, before the arrest of an alleged perpetrator whose motives are currently unknown, announced the city mayor and the police.
Mayor Eric Adams said during a press briefing that a suspect was “in custody.” “We are not looking for others,” he added.
No motivation has been put forward at this stage, but the alleged perpetrator is a 51-year-old homeless man, already known for eight arrests, said police official Joe Kenny.
“This is a new example, clear and clear, of the failure of criminal justice and the mental health system in New York,” denounced the Democratic mayor, in political difficulty since his indictment by federal justice in a case of corruption at the end of September.
The three attacks took place within two and a half hours, within 19e30eand 42e Streets of Manhattan, very close to the United Nations headquarters for the latest attack.
A first victim, a 36-year-old construction employee, was stabbed in the abdomen in front of the construction site where he worked and could not be saved, Joe Kenny said.
The second attack was on a 68-year-old man fishing in the East River, who also did not survive. A third victim, a 36-year-old woman, was seriously injured. The suspect was then seen by witnesses after a theft and was able to be arrested.
“This man was taken into custody, two long knives covered in blood were found and his clothes were also covered in blood,” the police officer explained.
