Person of interest in custody after string of stabbings in Queens: NYPD

A person of interest was taken into custody by the local authorities in connection to a string of stabbings that have taken place in Queens over recent weeks, the NYPD confirmed with Gothamist on Wednesday night.

The development came in the hours following a media briefing detailing the department's search for a suspect. Police said they were searching for a man who stabbed five people, though none of the stabbings were life-threatening. Police also said the man did not appear to be connected to the victims.

The string of violent incidents started on Jan. 8, when the man stabbed a 61-year-old man in the lower back, puncturing his right kidney, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny. The suspect laughed in the victim’s face, Kenny added.

Then on Tuesday, Jan. 16, the same man — wearing a gray or green hoodie and blue face mask — approached a 34-year-old woman just after midnight and stabbed her once in the torso as she exited the bus near 158th Street and 134th Avenue, police said. The attack was unprovoked and the suspect appeared to be talking to himself, Kenny said.

The final three stabbings all took place on Wednesday, according to authorities. At around 7:29 a.m. the man stabbed a 74-year-old man in the back as he escorted his wife to work, Kenny said.

Around 7:35 a.m., he stabbed another man in the abdomen as he moved his car, Kenny said.

And just 25 minutes later, police say he stabbed a 36-year-old man who was riding the bus to work.

“All these attacks took place within blocks of each other,” Kenny said.

Police are also investigating whether the suspect is connected to a stabbing that took place on a J train in Williamsburg.

“We’re here today because somebody knows him … and they know the fastest way to get him off the streets,” NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said at the media briefing on Wednesday evening.

NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said additional officers were being deployed in the subways and on the streets on Wednesday, and that police were also using helicopters to find the suspect.

Police officials ran several images of the man that were obtained from surveillance camera footage through the NYPD's facial recognition software, but couldn’t find a match because of his mask and the angles of the photos, Kenny said.

Assaults have spiked 30% since the pandemic. There were more than 27,000 reported felony assaults in 2023, up from nearly 21,000 in 2019.

This story has been updated with new information.