A man, drenched in blood and armed with two knives, rampaged across Manhattan in a brutal daytime stabbing spree that left two men dead and a woman fighting for her life, according to police reports.
The suspected attacker, identified as a mentally ill homeless man with a long history of arrests in New York City, was apprehended by a courageous officer with the aid of several bystanders, including a cab driver and a British tourist, officials said. NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny confirmed these details, as reported by the NY Post.
Ramon Rivera, 51, was named as the primary suspect and taken into custody. Police have no other leads in connection to the series of “unprovoked” attacks, as stated by Mayor Eric Adams during a morning briefing. Rivera’s mugshot, which showed him with a long beard and unruly hair, was published by The Post.
“Today, we have three innocent New Yorkers, just going about their lives, who were the victim of a terrible, terrible assault,” Mayor Adams said. “It is a clear, clear example of the criminal justice system, mental health system that continues to fail New Yorkers.”
Surveillance footage obtained by The Post depicted a man matching Rivera’s description putting a large knife into his sweatshirt pocket as he stood outside a building on West 19th Street in Chelsea, about 20 minutes before the first attack.
The stabbing spree, which lasted several hours, spanned from Chelsea to the East River, claiming the lives of a 36-year-old construction worker and a 68-year-old fisherman, according to police.
The third victim, a 36-year-old woman, was stabbed multiple times and was in critical condition on Monday, police said.
Authorities are still working to piece together the movements of the suspect, but it appears he traveled on foot for at least part of the violent rampage, which stretched from the West Side to the East Side of Manhattan.
The attacks began at around 8:20 a.m. when the suspect approached the construction worker outside 444 West 19th Street in Chelsea and stabbed him in the stomach, police said.
A blood-soaked blue towel was left on the sidewalk where the construction worker collapsed after the brutal attack.
A woman pushing a stroller witnessed the incident and screamed, which alerted a doorman to the situation. The doorman, who spoke to The Post, said he missed seeing the suspect flee the scene.
“She had a little kid. She was hysterical,” the doorman explained.
“The construction worker was stabbed 10 feet in front of her. She saw him stabbed twice with a kitchen knife,” he added.
The attacker then fled south down Ninth Avenue, according to police.
About two hours later, the suspect approached a 68-year-old man fishing near the East River at 500 East 30th Street, near the FDR Drive and The Water Club. The man was stabbed multiple times before the assailant fled again.
The fisherman was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he later died from his injuries. Police were seen later collecting the man’s fishing pole as evidence.
The final attack occurred near the United Nations building at East 42nd Street and First Avenue.
The 36-year-old woman was stabbed multiple times in front of several witnesses, sources said, and a pool of blood was left at the scene.
An ambulance rushed the woman to Weill Cornell Medical Center, while several bystanders contacted the police.
A British tourist, along with UN diplomatic security personnel who witnessed the attack, helped authorities locate the suspect.
A cab driver who had observed the stabbing, thinking it might be a robbery, followed the suspect and notified Officer Robert Garvey, who eventually caught up to the attacker near 46th Street and First Avenue, near the Turkish mission to the UN.
“Once [Officer Garvey] was alerted that this perpetrator was possibly involved in a crime, thinking that maybe it was a robbery, he detained him, and obviously at this point, information is coming over the radio, the detective squad gets involved,” said Kenny. “We start putting the pieces together and realize it’s part of the three attacks that have taken place [this] morning.”
“As of right now, these attacks seem to be unprovoked, that he just walked up to them and began to attack them with the knives,” Kenny continued.
“If Officer Garvey was not there, these random acts of violence, this person conceivably would have continued those random acts of violence,” Mayor Adams added. “So, he saved the lives of fellow New Yorkers.”
The suspect, Rivera, was found to be carrying two large bloodied kitchen knives, according to police. His clothing was also soaked in blood, suggesting he may have walked across Manhattan, randomly attacking people.
“From the video that we see, as of right now, we have video of him with the knives out,” Kenny said. “But as of this point, our investigation is preliminary. It appears that he was traveling by foot.”
Rivera, a homeless man living at the Bellevue Men’s Shelter, has a lengthy criminal record, including multiple arrests in New York City. Sources said Rivera had two prior incidents involving mental health crises that required police intervention.
In addition to his New York arrests, Rivera has a history of run-ins with law enforcement in other states. He spent much of this year in jail and was only released from Rikers Island about a month before the stabbing spree began, sources revealed.
His criminal history includes five arrests for burglary in Manhattan since December 2023, along with a petit larceny arrest in the same period. In May, he was arrested for assaulting a corrections officer at Bellevue Hospital’s psychiatric center.
In October, Rivera faced charges of grand larceny after allegedly stealing a nearly $1,500 acrylic bowl from a store in Tribeca, according to sources.
Court records show Rivera pleaded not guilty to the theft and was released on bail with non-monetary conditions. He also pleaded guilty to several charges of burglary and assault, for which he received jail time.
Mayor Adams expressed concern about why Rivera was allowed back on the streets. “There’s some real questions that we need to look at on why he was on the street, and he has some severe mental health issues that should have been examined, and that’s what we’re looking to spot in the investigation,” he said.
{Matzav.com}