Two people were fatally stabbed in New York City overnight in incidents that may be connected to each other, as well as two other non-fatal stabbings in the past 24 hours, police officials said Saturday.
The stabbings have all occurred along the A line, police officials say, with two victims dead found at opposite ends of the track in Manhattan and Queens two hours apart.
Investigating officers believe at least three of four stabbings throughout the city's subway system since Friday morning are connected, with the fourth still under investigation, Commissioner Dermot Shea said at a briefing Saturday afternoon.
Effective immediately, the commissioner has directed an extra 500 police officers patrol the transit system above and below ground.
The first victim found dead was reported to police around 11:30 p.m. Friday in Far Rockaway. Responding officers found a man covered in stab wounds on his neck and chest inside a train car at the Mott Avenue and Beach 22nd Street station.
Two hours later, at the other end of the A line, police say a 44-year-old woman was found around 1:20 a.m. at the West 207th Street and Broadway station. A 911 call had been made for a woman lying unconscious under a subway bench.
The two nonfatal attacks — one involving a 67-year-old man and the other involving a 43-year-old man — also occurred in upper Manhattan.
Authorities believe all four victims were homeless.
Police said they were searching for a man they suspect could be behind all of the attacks. They were reviewing subway security camera footage as part of the investigation.
"I take nothing more seriously than the safety of New Yorkers, and that's certainly includes those who ride and work on our public transit system," Shea said Saturday.
The heads of New York City Transit and TWU Local 100, interim president Sarah Feinberg and Tony Utano respectively, issued a joint statement Saturday morning asking for an immediate increase in police presence on subways.
"The recent horrifying attacks in the subway system are outrageous and unacceptable. Every customer, and each of our brave, heroic transit workers deserve a safe and secure transit system," the statement read. "We have been calling on the city to add more police to the system, and to do more to assist those who desperately need mental health assistance. The time for action is now."
Overall crime is down, according to the MTA and NYPD, but the past year has seen a rise in felony assaults despite a 70 percent drop in ridership amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The deaths of two people aboard subway cars Friday night and early Saturday morning are the latest in a string of violence across the subway system.
Police say a man was approached on the platform of the 1 train at Christopher Street on Thursday night and stabbed in the stomach in an unprovoked attack. Earlier on the same day, police say someone shoved a 72-year-old man to the ground as he was waiting for the 7 train at the 5th and West 42nd Street station.
There have been four subway slashings since Wednesday. Police say some have been random -- while others started with an argument. NBC New York's Marc Santia reports.
Mayor Bill de Blasio addressed the rise in violent crimes on Tuesday, saying that the subway is much safe now compared to how things were not long ago.
"We have more to do always...and that’s why NYPD has added additional personnel to the subways," de Blasio said.
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