NEW YORK (1010 WINS/AP) — A man was charged with murder in Thursday’s fatal, random stabbing of an FDNY EMS lieutenant in Queens, police said Friday as the city and state mourned the veteran paramedic.
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Peter Zisopoulos, 34, was also charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the fatal attack on EMS Lt. Alison Russo-Elling, a Long Island grandmother who was months away from retirement.
Zisopoulos was at the 114th Precinct stationhouse in Astoria awaiting arraignment Friday.
Police were guarding his apartment building on 41st Street, right across the street from the rear of FDNY EMS Station 49, as the investigation continued.
A nearby deli worker said he’d often seen Zisopoulos. He'd walk back and forth and seemed detached.
“The guy was just not there at all,” the worker said. “I’ve worked here for four years. I’ve seen him almost every other day, if not every week for sure, and never spoke, never said, ‘Hi,’ never waved, never smiled.”
A resident at the suspect’s building was shocked by the crime but said his neighbor “seemed a little bit off.”
“Just strange, or quiet,” he said. “I don’t want to say weird, but kind of. Just quiet. Never talk, never say, ‘Hi.’”
Russo-Elling, 61, was on duty when she was stabbed around 2:25 p.m. Thursday near her EMS station.
Russo-Elling was heading to a corner store to get something to eat when Zisopoulos allegedly stabbed her multiple times, police said. She was taken to Mount Sinai Queens, where she was pronounced dead.
Zisopoulos ran to his nearby apartment and barricaded himself inside, police said. He was arrested after he was eventually talked into coming out.
It wasn’t clear if he had an attorney who could comment on the charges against him.
The motive for the stabbing is under investigation.
An FDNY source told the New York Post that “there doesn’t appear to have been any prior contact between them.”
“He just walked toward her, sped up and then stabbed her to death,” the source said.
A bunting ceremony was held around 11 a.m. at EMS Station 49, while the city and state were honoring the lieutenant by lowering flags to half-staff at government buildings. She was remembered as a compassionate person who also did volunteer work on Long Island.
Russo-Elling had served the city for 25 years and was among the first responders at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, acting FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said at a news conference.
“She was cited multiple times for her bravery and her life-saving work,” Kavanagh said. “And she was absolutely beloved on this job.”
Russo-Elling is the second member of EMS to die in the line of duty in the past five years and the 1,158th member of the FDNY to die in the line of duty, Kavanagh said.
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