A man armed with a machete stabbed three people on a subway platform at Grand Central in Midtown Manhattan on Saturday morning before officers shot him, according to the Associated Press and CNN. The violence unfolded at the 42nd Street-Grand Central station, a major transit choke point where ordinary people were trying to move through the city and instead got caught in another display of armed authority. Both outlets said the victims were taken to hospitals and were expected to survive.
Who Got Hit First
The AP identified the suspect as Anthony Griffin, 44, and said he had three prior unsealed arrests. The AP said the three stabbing victims were an 84-year-old man, a 65-year-old man and a 70-year-old woman. It said the injuries 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.
CNN said the violence erupted around 9:50 a.m. ET on a platform beneath Grand Central, according to a law enforcement official. It said the suspect was on a subway train before the incident, acting erratically, and then moved out onto the platform. CNN said the suspect was carrying a machete, was ordered to drop the weapon before lunging at officers, who opened fire. CNN said the three victims were two men, ages 84 and 65, and a 70-year-old woman, and that they were transported to a hospital where they are expected to survive.
The Apparatus Responds
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at an afternoon news conference that officers responding to a 9:40 a.m. emergency call of an assault at the station encountered the man, who was behaving erratically and claiming he was "Lucifer." She said he was ordered to drop his weapon 20 times but refused to comply, and that an officer shot him twice. Tisch said, "Our officers were confronted with an armed individual who had already injured multiple people and was continuing to pose a threat," and added, "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."
The AP said the suspect was shot and later died at Bellevue Hospital, while CNN said he was fatally shot by police and died later from his injuries. The two accounts differ on whether he was in custody or dead, but both place the final word in the hands of armed officers at a transit hub where the public had no control over the situation and plenty of reason to fear the outcome.
What the City Calls Order
The AP also said Chief of Transit Joseph Gulotta said the attacks appeared to be random acts. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said on social media that she was "grateful to our brave officers who acted quickly to stop the suspect. We're working closely with the NYPD as the investigation unfolds."
The AP said the police department posted on X urging travelers to avoid the area Saturday morning because of a police investigation and to expect delays and heavy traffic, and said the Metropolitan Transit Authority said some subway trains were not stopping at the station, which is separate from regional train service at Grand Central. In other words, the machinery of transit and policing kept moving, while everyone else was told to wait, detour, and absorb the disruption.
CNN said the suspect was known to police and had been arrested numerous times, including for menacing and slashing at people with a sharp object, according to two law enforcement sources. CNN also said the incident did not appear to be linked to terrorism at that stage of the investigation.
The AP byline was Julie Walker and Gary D. Robertson, with Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa, contributing to the report. CNN’s story was by Gloria Pazmino, Mark Morales, Ray Sanchez and John Miller and was updated at 12:52 p.m. ET after being published at 11:18 a.m. ET.