NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Police said Thursday that they were searching for multiple suspects in three separate, apparently unprovoked attacks in the transit system over the past week, including stabbings at subway stations in Columbus Circle and Long Island City, as well as a subway shoving in Midtown that left the victim with broken bones.
The attacks aren’t believed to be connected, and three different suspects are being sought in connection to them. Word of the assaults also comes after police arrested a man who’s accused of stabbing multiple people unprovoked in Queens and being investigated for a subway stabbing in Brooklyn. It also comes after a Brooklyn grandfather was fatally shot Sunday night as he tried to break up a fight over loud music on a 3 train in Brownsville.
In the most recent attack Wednesday morning, a 42-year-old man was aboard a southbound D train inside the 59th Street–Columbus Circle station at 5:50 a.m. when another man walked up and stabbed him in the right shoulder. The suspect quickly fled onto a northbound 2 train, while the victim was transported by private means to NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull, where he was listed in stable condition. UPDATE: The suspect in this attack has since been arrested.
And on Monday afternoon, a 69-year-old man was attacked at the Lexington Avenue/51st Street station in Midtown East. As the victim was boarding a northbound 6 train, another man pushed him off the train car, causing him to fall onto the platform and break his wrist, police said. The victim was transported by private means to NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln, where he was being treated for the fractured wrist.
In yet another assault last Wednesday, Jan. 10, a 36-year-old man was boarding a southbound R train at the Queens Plaza station in Long Island City at 7:30 p.m. when another man tried to strike up a conversation with him. Moments later, the stranger randomly plunged a sharp object into the victim’s left leg, police said. The victim was transported by private means to Staten Island University Hospital North, where he was listed in stable condition.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
