Man stabs 3 with machete at New York’s Grand Central and is fatally shot by officer

• A man with a machete attacked three people at Grand Central subway station on April 11, leaving them in stable condition.
• Police shot and killed the attacker after he refused orders to drop the machete; two officers were treated for noise exposure.
• Officials are investigating; the Mayor thanked the NYPD and pledged body-camera footage release, while the Governor called it a "senseless act of violence".

NEW YORK – Police fatally shot a man on the morning of April 11 after he attacked three people with a machete at the Grand Central subway station, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.

The episode, on the platform of the 7 train and then uptown 4, 5 and 6 trains, began just after 9.30am when the man, who had been seen acting erratically on a subway train, exited at the Grand Central-42 Street Station and slashed three people on the two platforms, according to police.

Officers responding to the scene repeatedly ordered the man to drop the machete, but he refused to comply, police said.

One of the officers then shot the man, they said.

Emergency medical workers took the three stabbing victims to Bellevue Hospital, where they were in stable condition and expected to survive, police said.

The victims included two men, 84 and 65 years old, and a 70-year-old woman, according to three law enforcement officials who were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly.

The attacker was also taken to Bellevue, where he was later pronounced dead, the officials said. Two officers were being treated for noise exposure at another hospital, they said.

Police were investigating on the afternoon of April 11, the officials said, but the slashings did not appear to be an act of terrorism, they said.

In a statement on social media, Mr Mamdani thanked police for their work in subduing the attacker.

“I’m grateful to the NYPD for their quick response and for preventing additional violence,” he said. He added that an internal police investigation was under way and that the department would release the officers’ body-camera footage, as is standard in cases of police shootings.

Governor Kathy Hochul also responded on social media, calling the episode a “senseless act of violence” and pledging to keep commuters out of harm’s way.

Trains running in both directions on the 4, 5 and 6 lines were diverted from the Grand Central-42 Street Station on the morning of April 11 while police investigated, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said.

New York City police officers and MTA workers had placed yellow police tape in the area around the turnstiles at Grand Central, barring commuters from entering the station.

Nearby, passengers arriving on the 7 train streamed out of the station with looks of confusion on their faces as MTA workers directed them to other trains and buses, and sent them on their way.

One passenger, Mr Aaron Parham, 51, said he had been on his way to the Frick museum on the morning of April 11 when he was promptly ushered out of the station by MTA police officers.

“This isn’t normal,” said Mr Parham, who has lived in New York for more than two decades. He said he had passed about 25 police officers on his way out of the station.

Mr Douglas Miller and his wife, Ms Jody Kelley, who live in Manhattan, were making their way toward the 4, 5 and 6 platform on the morning of April 11 to take an uptown train to the Guggenheim Museum.

But when they approached an escalator that leads to the station, they saw a metal barricade and officers ordering tourists and commuters to leave the area.

Mr Miller, a longtime New Yorker who had purchased tickets two weeks in advance to visit the museum’s Gabriele Munter exhibition, said he was frustrated by the inconvenience.

Still, he said, the couple is accustomed to adjusting their plans in an unpredictable city.

“Another day in New York,” he said, as he and his wife walked toward the 51st Street subway station. NYTIMES