New York City police have arrested a man in connection with a series of subway stabbing attacks that killed two and injured two others, the department said Sunday.
Rigoberto Lopez, 21, is facing two charges of second-degree murder, two counts of attempted second-degree murder, and a single count first degree murder, according to the New York Police Department. Officials said the day before Lopez’s arrest that officers were called Fort Washington station around 11:20 a.m. Friday and found a 67-year-old man suffering stab wounds.
Officers found a man dead at a station in Far Rockaway with stab wounds to the face and neck after another call around 11:30 p.m. Friday. A few hours later, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority employee found a woman stabbed on a train.
The woman, 44, died at a local hospital.
Another man, 43, with stab wounds was found at the Fort Washington subway station around the same time, police said. He told police he was attacked by an unidentified man.
All four of the individuals who were attacked are believed to be homeless, police said.
Eric Adams, Brooklyn’s borough president, said in a statement that city’s current approach to subway safety is “failing,” noting that the stabbings come amid a surge of other violent crimes on the public transit trains.
“The perpetrators of this violence are often struggling with some form of severe mental illness, and their targets are frequently some of the most vulnerable New Yorkers, including our homeless neighbors who seek out the subway system as a refuge during the winter months,” he said in a statement.
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said Saturday that an additional 500 officers would be deployed throughout the city to patrol subway stations.
Neither the NYPD nor the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office was immediately available to respond to NBC News’ request for more information. It is unclear whether Lopez has yet retained an attorney.
