At least three elderly people were injured in a stabbing spree by a man who claimed to be ‘Lucifer’ inside tourist-heavy Grand Central Terminal in Midtown Manhattan.
Two men aged 65 and 85, who were not identified, were taken to the hospital in critical condition by the fire department after being slashed in the head on Saturday morning.
A third person, a 70-year-old woman, was also attacked.
Police reportedly fatally shot Anthony Griffen, 44, who stabbed the victims with a machete on Saturday morning while repeated telling people he was ‘Lucifer,’ Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press conference.
He was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
He has three prior arrests, according to Tisch. It is unclear what for.
Three train lines – the 4, 5, and 6 – were disrupted in the aftermath and not stopping at the popular station, which is one of the busiest stations in the US, while police conduct an investigation, the MTA said.
Tisch said officers found Griffen on the platform, acting ‘erratically’ and refusing to drop his machete. Police ordered the man to drop the weapon at least 20 times, the commissioner said.
Three elderly people were injured in a stabbing spree inside Grand Central on Saturday morning
A close-up of the weapon used in the Saturday morning attack in New York is pictured
‘Officers also tried to deescalate and offer assistance, saying: “We are going to get you help,”‘ Tisch said.
Griffen then ‘advanced toward the officers with the knife extended,’ causing one officer to fire two shots toward the criminal.
Griffen initially entered the subway system in Queens at Vernon Boulevard station, where he took the 7 train to Grand Central.
After arriving to the Midtown Manhattan station, he slashed one person on the 7 train before going upstairs to the 4/5/6 platform and harmed two more people, Tisch said.
The 85-year-old victim suffered serious laceration to the head and face on the 7 train platform. The 65-year-old man suffered a skull fracture on the 4/5/6 platform, authorities said.
The third victim suffered a shoulder laceration, also on the 4/5/6 platform.
‘Their injuries are not believe to be life-threatening at this time,’ Tisch said.
The machete was seen on the platform of the subway at Grand Central after the attack
The crime scene is pictured. The attack sparked chaos at the tourist-heavy NYC hotspot
The incident comes after Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, said last week that the Big Apple had a gun violence problem after a seven-month-old baby was fatally shot in the head in Brooklyn.
‘We cannot accept it as normal in our city. We cannot grow numb to this pain,’ he said. ‘Today is a devastating reminder of just how much more work there is to be done to combat gun violence across the city.
‘Too many children have never grown up into becoming adults. Too many parents who’ve had to bury those they love most.’
Kaori Patterson-Moore was shot dead while parents Jamari Patterson, 22, and Lianna Moore, 20, and brother, Kaizen, were strolling through Brooklyn on April 1.
The parents had been taking their kids to buy baby supplies when the shooting happened around 1.20pm.
They had originally thought someone had set off fireworks, which had caused her son to hop out of the stroller.
The family fled into a nearby bodega before Moore noticed her daughter’s head was bleeding, surveillance footage obtained by the New York Post showed.
Blood and trash were seen left on the platform after the attack
Police shot the man after he allegedly refused to put down his weapon. The 4, 5, and 6 trains did not stop at the station in the aftermath of the attack
Grand Central is one of the busiest terminals in the country
An increased police presence is seen outside the busy station after the attack
Just a week before the officer-involved shooting, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the Big Apple had a gun violence problem
Kaori Patterson-Moore, seven months, died last week after she was fatally shot in the head
She was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital after her father ran her there.
Despite the two violent incidents, statistics show that crime is down 5.7 percent in NYC.
However, shooting victims are up 2.3 percent and shooting incidents are up 1.4 percent compared to last year, NYPD statistics showed.
Governor Kathy Hochul said she has been briefed on Saturday’s stabbing, calling it a ‘senseless act of violence.’
‘I’m grateful to our brave officers who acted quickly to stop the suspect,’ she wrote on X. ‘We’re working closely with the NYPD as the investigation unfolds.’
Mamdani echoed a similar statement, writing on X: ‘I’m grateful to the NYPD for their quick response and for preventing additional violence.’
The mayor said NYPD will be releasing bodycam footage later after the investigation is concluded.
