Police Detain Person of Interest After Two Stabbings on Upper West Side
Two men were stabbed on Manhattan's Upper West Side on Thursday; a person of interest was arrested nearby, and police say the attacks appear to be random.
Police arrested a person of interest on Thursday afternoon after two separate stabbings occurred on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The first victim, a 57-year-old man, was stabbed in the torso at 84th Street and Central Park West around 1:30 p.m. A second victim, a 50-year-old man, was attacked near 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, close to a church and a synagogue. Both men were transported to a hospital and are now reported to be in stable condition.
Detectives took the suspect into custody at an apartment building a few blocks from the second crime scene. He has not been formally charged and is being questioned. Police are examining whether a blade and a screwdriver were used in the assaults and have not yet classified the incidents as hate crimes, though they are still determining a motive.
Council Speaker Julie Menin issued a statement expressing condemnation of the attacks, describing them as potentially antisemitic and calling them abhorrent.