One person was killed and at least four others injured in a spate of subway slashings in New York City over the weekend, police said, in a stretch of violence that included three women attacked in the span of an hour.
New video released Monday morning shows the man police are looking for in connection to the attacks on the women on Sunday, seen jumping over a turnstile at the East 86th Street subway station near Lexington Avenue. Investigators said that the suspect approached two women, a 48-year-old and a 19-year-old, from behind and slashed them both in the right leg with a sharp object around 4 p.m.
"I just felt like a slice. I grabbed my thigh and I looked back and he was there. And I had the blood, and the blood was dripping everywhere," said the teen victim, who did not wish to be identified. She said she was on the downtown train to pick up a cake for her dad on Father's Day.
"I noticed [the suspect] come in, he was kind of staring at me, I wasn't trying to make eye contact with him. It was me, him and a lady that got off with a service dog," said the teen. "I got off first and then he was behind me. I was walking up the stairs and he slashed me...I looked back and he was just there, standing, and I was crying and he just walked across the platform."
She said the man never said a word, and moments later, the 48-year-old woman at the same station.
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About 20 minutes after that initial attack, officers said a 28-year-old woman was stabbed by the same suspect at the Chambers Street station in lower Manhattan. The man ran from the scene and exited the train at the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall station. He has not yet been identified.
The victim was rushed to the hospital with a severe cut to her left leg, according to police. Each of the three victims is expected to recover.
"NYC Transit cameras grabbed good pictures of this perpetrator jumping the turnstile and I'm confident the NYPD will track him down in short order," said NYC Transit President Richard Davey.
Those incidents came after Father's Day weekend started with a deadly attack on a 4 train at Union Square. The victim, identified by police as 32-year-old Tavon Silver, was found unconscious inside a train car Saturday morning with a stab wound to his chest. It was not immediately clear what led to the fatal confrontation.
On Monday, police arrested 33-year-old Claude White in connection with the deadly attack. White, who police said is homeless, was charged with murder and weapon possession. Attorney information was not immediately available.
No arrests have been made in any of the stabbings involving the female victims. It was unclear if police believed White to be connected to the other stabbings, but police were concerned it would only be a matter of time before the man involved strikes again. There was an increased police presence along the 4/5/6 line on Monday, with officers patrolling platforms, boarding trains and looking for the suspect.
Anyone with information regarding the case or the suspect, who is considered to be armed and dangerous, is urged to contact police.
