A terrifying incident occurred at New York City's Grand Central subway station when a 44-year-old man wielding a machete indiscriminately attacked innocent people, claiming he was "Lucifer." Three victims were seriously injured. Authorities said they ordered him to drop the weapon more than 20 times without success before deciding to fatally shoot him to stop the attack.
Violence erupted in the U.S. public transit system early last Saturday (local time) when a man armed with a machete randomly assaulted people inside the Grand Central-42nd Street subway station, one of New York City's busiest hubs.
Jessica Tisch, New York Police Commissioner, stated that officers received a report of an assault around 09:40 a.m. Upon arrival, they found the suspect, later identified as 44-year-old Anthony Griffin, in a frenzied state repeatedly shouting that he was "Lucifer." Officers tried to control the situation by ordering him over 20 times to drop his weapon, but he resisted and lunged at them with the machete. Police then fired two shots, resulting in the suspect's death later at Bellevue Hospital.
There were three victims of the random attack: an 84-year-old man and a 65-year-old man, both suffering severe head and facial wounds—one with a fractured skull—and a 70-year-old woman with serious shoulder injuries. Officials noted that although the injuries appeared severe, all three were treated and expected to survive.
An eyewitness recounted hearing gunshots loud enough to pierce through headphones, then seeing a "human wall" wildly rushing toward the exit doors. The witness said they had never seen such panic in a crowd before, prompting them to flee up the stairs with others.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul expressed gratitude for the courage and decisive action of the police officers who quickly stopped the attack before more lives were lost. Subway service was suspended for several hours before resuming normal operations in the afternoon.
Records show the suspect had been arrested three times previously. Authorities preliminarily concluded this was an unprovoked assault without a specific target.
. . .Associated Press