“The end result the public needs to know is this: they can expect to see a huge footprint of uniformed officers deployed throughout New York City, whether they’re taking a train or a platform,” Shea said. said.
Shea said the four attacks took place on the A-line, a subway line running between north Manhattan and Queens.
In addition to the two deaths, two other victims are recovering from their injuries. All four victims were homeless and the attacks did not appear to have been provoked, said Deputy Chief Brian McGee, commander of the North Manhattan Detective Bureau.
The attacks began Friday morning when a 67-year-old man was stabbed in the upper Manhattan 181 street station by an unknown man and later treated at a nearby hospital, Kathleen O’Reilly, head of the NYPD, told reporters said.
An adult man was found dead at about 11:30 p.m. Friday with “stab wounds to his neck and torso” in the A train at Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue train station in Queens, O’Reilly said.
About two hours later on Saturday, an unconscious 44-year-old woman was found in a train carriage at Inwood 207 Street Station in Upper Manhattan with “multiple stab wounds,” according to O’Reilly. The woman was taken to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead, O’Reilly said.
Less than 20 minutes after the incident, police officers responded to calls about a 43-year-old man being stabbed at 181 street station. He told officers he was stabbed by an unknown man and was taken to a hospital where he was operated on, according to McGee.
“It appears that three of these incidents were linked and the detective agency is investigating the possibility that all four could have been committed by one individual,” O’Reilly said.
The NYPD will publish a picture of the unknown offender as soon as possible, McGee said. Officials are asking anyone with information about the four stabbings to contact police.
“We don’t have much to do with the offender at the moment,” McGee said.