A 21-year-old man from Brooklyn was arrested Sunday and charged in connection with a series of knife stab wounds in the New York subway system that killed two and injured two more within 14 hours.
The announcement comes after the New York Police Department (NYPD) on Saturday deployed an additional 500 officers to patrol the subway system above and below ground on Saturday in response to the apparently unprovoked attacks happening along the A train has.
A police union has also called for an increase in officers to speak to the city council, which is pushing for a criminal justice reform package to reduce the NYPD’s footprint.
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Rigoberto Lopez, 21, of Butler Street in Brooklyn has been arrested and is charged with two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder in connection with the stabbing along the A-line, an NYPD spokesman confirmed to Fox News on Sunday.
A person of interest was reportedly arrested on Saturday night in West 186th Street and Audubon Avenue in Washington Heights for questioning, NY Daily News reported.
The first attack took place shortly before midnight on Friday when an adult man died after being stabbed in the neck and torso in the A-train. About two hours later in the early hours of Saturday morning, an unconscious 45-year-old woman with multiple stab wounds was transported to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead. Both victims are believed to be homeless and were found across the A-train track, which sank into puddles under the subway seat.
A 67-year-old man and a 43-year-old individual were also stabbed in the A train in the past 24 hours, although the injuries are apparently not life-threatening.
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The police union representing NYPD detectives issued a stern reprimand to the city council for pushing an agenda to reduce the department’s footprint, just a day before the additional 500 officers were called in to patrol the city. to enlarge subway system in New York.
“Perhaps Council President Johnson should ask the NYers if they want more or less police on the streets and in the subways – especially since the tragic killings are on the A-line,” Detectives’ Endowment Association tweeted Saturday. “There is no doubt that they want to see more police. It’s time for the politicians to wake up!”
The union shared a local news report reporting that City Council Speaker Corey Johnson on Thursday defended a new criminal package of 11 bills that seeks in part to end a qualified immunity for officers.
“These are big bills. It will change the footprint of policing in New York City,” Johnson said in an interview with NY1. “It builds on many of the calls for reform that took place last year after the assassination of George Floyd.”
Reforms in the package also include: an appeal to the state to remove the exclusive authority of the police commissioner over police discipline and send it to an independent body; gives the city council more say in future actions of police commissioners and that the mayor must seek the council’s approval for the appointment of a police commissioner; investigators with a history of prejudice; requires the NYPD to issue a quarterly traffic stop report; the creation of a non-police emergency unit for mental health calls; the reform of the role of school security officers; NY1 reports that reporting on the turnover rate of school safety is required and that accident investigations are being transferred to the city transport department.
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Fox News’ Paul Best and Bradford Betz contributed to this report.