Friends of a man who was shot dead by police after going on a stabbing spree in New York’s Grand Central Station said he had been “fighting demons for a while.”
Anthony Griffin, 44, reportedly referred to himself as “Lucifer” as he attacked three people with a machete in the busy transport hub Saturday morning.
“He was going through a lot mentally. He most likely was fighting demons for a while,” Fatima Brown, Griffin’s partner, told News 12. “Whatever happened…It wasn’t him. Physically? Maybe. Spiritually? No.”
“I’ve never seen him be violent or hurt anybody,” added Deborah Brown, another long-time friend of Griffin.
Officers from the New York Police Department responded to an emergency call around 9:40 a.m. and confronted a man, later identified as Griffin, holding a weapon that law enforcement described as a machete.
He was reportedly told to drop the weapon 20 times by officers.
After he did not drop it an officer fired two shots and struck the suspect, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press conference. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani later confirmed that he had died from his injuries.
The three stabbing victims — an 84-year-old male, a 65-year-old male and a 70-year-old female — sustained injuries that were not thought to be life-threatening.
One man sustained “significant lacerations to the head and face”, the other man had similar injuries and an open skull fracture and the third victim had a laceration to the shoulder.
Tisch said previously the incident had been captured on body-worn cameras, which friends of Griffin have called to be released.
“All he was doing was walking around with his machete, which he has the right to, because everyone has the right to bear arms,” Shamosi Bey, who identified himself as Griffin’s longtime friend, told News 12.
New York Governor. Kathy Hochul said on social media that she was “grateful to our brave officers who acted quickly to stop the suspect.”
An investigation into the incident is ongoing.
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