1 of 2 | Blood and a machete lie on the platform after a man was shot by New York Police Department officers inside Grand Central Station in New York City Saturday. Three victims were hospitalized in stable condition with knife wounds and the suspect is dead, according to police. Photo by Olga Fedorova/EPA
April 11 (UPI) — A man attacked three older adults with a machete at Grand Central Terminal in New York Saturday and was shot to death by police.
The suspect was identified as Anthony Griffin, 44, said New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch at a press conference. He died at a hospital.
The victims were a 65-year-old man, a 70-year-old woman and an 84-year-old man. All three victims are in the hospital being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Two police officers were taken to the hospital and were in stable condition.
“Our officers were confronted with an armed individual who had already injured multiple people and was continuing to pose a threat,” Tisch said. “They gave clear commands. They attempted to de-escalate, and when that threat did not stop, they took decisive action to stop it and to protect New Yorkers on one of the busiest train platforms in the city.”
Police said the attacks appeared to be random and that the victims didn’t know Griffin. He had been arrested three times before, though Tisch didn’t say what those charges were.
Trains have been diverted from the area for the investigation.
Griffin entered the subway at a station in Queens at 9:30 a.m. EDT Saturday, Tisch said. He then took the train to Grand Central Station.
When he got there, he attacked the 84-year-old victim, creating “significant lacerations to the head and the face,” she said.
He then went to a different platform where he stabbed the two other victims.
The 65-year-old-man “sustained similar injuries, as well as an open skull fracture.” The woman was cut on the shoulder, Tisch said.
Police at the station were told about the attack by a civilian at 9:40 a.m. They went to the platform, saw a victim and told Griffin to drop the weapon.
“The individual refused to comply with at least 20 orders to drop the knife,” Tisch said. “Officers also attempted to de-escalate and offer assistance, saying, ‘We are going to get you help.'”
“He then advanced toward the officers with the knife extended,” she said. “One officer discharged his firearm, striking the perpetrator twice.”
In a statement on X, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani thanked the officers.
“I’m grateful to the NYPD for their quick response and for preventing additional violence,” he said. “The NYPD is conducting an internal investigation and will release body-worn camera footage, as it does in all incidents involving the discharge of an officer’s firearm.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a post on X that she was briefed on the attack.
“I’m grateful to our brave officers who acted quickly to stop the suspect,” Hochul said. “We’re working closely with the NYPD as the investigation unfolds.”
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