Boy aged 14 stabbed to death on New York subway station platform
‘We do not believe this is a random attack. It is believed that the individuals involved were known to each other,’ say police
A 14-year-old boy has been stabbed to death in a New York subway station, with another teenager now in police custody.
The teenagers got into a fight in the streets of Hamilton Heights, Manhattan, at around 3pm on Saturday afternoon, before the altercation moved underground into the 137th Street and City College subway station, the NYPD said.
As the fight continued on the northbound 1 train platform, the suspect pulled out a knife and stabbed the 14-year-old boy.
NYPD Transit Chief Jason Wilcox said at a press conference on Saturday night that officers responded to a 911 call about a fight and arrived on the scene to find the victim on the station platform bleeding from the stomach.
The 14-year-old, whose identity has not been publicly released, was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead around 30 minutes later.
A knife and a broomstick were recovered from the scene, Chief Wilcox said.
Surveillance footage captured images of the individuals at the scene of the stabbing and investigators circulated their descriptions to other officers.
A 15-year-old boy matching the description of one of the individuals was then located by police later that day.
When officers found him, he was bleeding from his back and abdomen.
The teenager was taken to hospital for treatment before going into police custody.
The involvement of the 15-year-old, who has not been named, is not currently clear but police said they are not looking for anyone else in connection to the case.
“The cause of [the 15-year-old’s] wounds and his role in this incident remains part of this ongoing investigation,” said Chief Wilcox.
Police believe the 14-year-old knew his attacker but the motive is still under investigation.
“We do not believe this is a random attack. It is believed that the individuals involved were known to each other,” said Chief Wilcox.
An eyewitness to the attack told NBC New York that they had seen three teenage girls trying to rob the victim of his phone before running out of the station.
They also described in harrowing detail the 14-year-old’s final moments.
“His lips were purple and his eyes were rolled back, and he was bleeding a lot of blood,” the witness said.
The NYPD did not immediately return a request for comment and further information from The Independent on Sunday morning.
This marks just the latest in a string of violent attacks and crimes on the New York City subway system in recent months.
In January, 40-year-old Asian-American woman Alyssa Go was killed when a man shoved her in front of a train in a random attack in Times Square.
Three months later, a gunman shot 10 people in a mass shooting on a subway train in the Sunset Park neighbourhood in Brooklyn before going on the run for days. Miraculously, no one was killed in the attack.
In May, a gunman then shot and killed 48-year-old Daniel Enriquez in broad daylight on a train travelling into Manhattan.