Two men were k!lled and a woman was left clinging to life after a knife-wielding maniac went on an “unprovoked” random stabbing spree in Manhattan Monday morning, Nov. 18, Mayor Eric Adams and cops said.
The alleged attacker – a homeless man, 51, with eight past arrests – was identified and apprehended by cops thanks to the help of a good Samaritan cab driver, said NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny.
Police have no other suspect, Adams said during a Monday afternoon briefing.
“Today, we have three innocent New Yorkers, just going about their lives, who were the victim of a terrible, terrible assault,” he said.
“It is a clear, clear example of the criminal justice system, mental health system that continues to fail New Yorkers.”
The sickening spree began around 8:20 a.m. when the 51-year-old killer approached a 30-year-old man on West 19th Street near Eighth Avenue and knifed him in the stomach, police said.
That victim — whom sources identified as a construction worker — was rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where he d!£d, cops said.
The sinister stabber ran off down Ninth Avenue, police said.
About two hours passed before the violent menace moved to East 30th Street near the FDR Drive, where he knifed a man in his 60s multiple times, police and sources said.
That man was taken to the same hospital, where he too succumbed to his injuries, sources said.
Then, shortly before 11 a.m., the madman stabbed a woman in the chest at East 42nd Street and First Avenue near the United Nations building, cops and sources said.
A cab driver witnessed the attack and followed the suspect until he was able to alert an NYPD officer, Kenny said.
The woman was taken to Weill Cornell Medical Center, where she was listed in critical condition.
Kenny said the stabbings appeared random.
Cops found two knives at the scene, police said.
The suspect, a resident of the Bellevue Men’s Shelter, was taken into custody at East 46th Street and First Avenue, sources said. Charges were pending.