Police in New York City shot and killed a man who stabbed three people at Grand Central subway station on Saturday morning. The suspect, identified as 44-year-old Anthony Griffin, was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital after being shot twice by an officer.
Police commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters that officers were flagged down by a witness to the stabbings at about 9.40am. They found the suspect armed with a machete, who defied at least 20 verbal orders to drop the weapon and repeatedly stated that 'he was Lucifer'. The officers attempted to de-escalate, telling him 'we are going to get you help', but when he approached them with the weapon, one officer shot him twice and began emergency medical aid.
The suspect entered the subway system in Queens earlier that morning, according to surveillance footage. His first victim, an 84-year-old man, was slashed on the head on the 7 train platform. The suspect then moved to the platform for the 4, 5 and 6 lines, where he slashed a 65-year-old man, fracturing his skull, and slashed a third victim, a woman, in the shoulder.
All three victims were hospitalised in stable condition with injuries not believed to be life-threatening. The entire incident was captured on body-worn camera. New York's mayor, Zohran Mamdani, wrote on social media that he had been briefed on the incident.
The suspect had three prior arrests but 'no EDP history', Tisch said, using the shorthand for 'emotionally disturbed person' reports. Multiple subway trains bypassed the station for a time, police said.
