A man wielding a machete stabbed three people Saturday at Grand Central Terminal, a major commuter hub and tourist destination in New York City, police said.
The suspect stabbed a 65-year-old-man, a 70-year-old woman and an 84-year-old man, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at press conference after the incident.
Tisch said the suspect, whom she identified as 44-year-old Anthony Griffin, used a machete to attack his victims. Griffin was fatally shot by officers after the assaults, she said.
“Our officers were confronted with an armed individual who had already injured multiple people and was continuing to pose a threat,” Tisch said. “They gave clear commands. They attempted to de-escalate, and when that threat did not stop, they took decisive action to stop it and to protect New Yorkers on one of the busiest train platforms in the city.”
Authorities placed yellow tape near the turnstiles at Grand Central to bar commuters from entering. Trains were diverted in both directions on the Nos. 4, 5, and 6 trains as police investigated.
The commissioner described a sequence of events that started when Griffin entered the subway system at the Vernon Boulevard station in Queens at around 9:30 a.m. ET and boarded a No. 7 train to Grand Central station.
Once there, he slashed the 84-year-old victim on the train platform, inflicting “significant lacerations to the head and the face,” she said. Griffin then moved on to the platform for the Nos. 4, 5 and 6 trains, where he stabbed the two other victims.
The 65-year-old-man “sustained similar injuries, as well as an open skull fracture,” and the 70-year-old woman suffered a laceration to the shoulder, Tisch said.
At approximately 9:40 a.m. two officers assigned to transit were informed by a civilian about the attacks, Tisch said. As detectives moved toward the 4/5/6 platform, they encountered one of the victims, she added.
They then encountered Griffin on the 4/5/6 platform and immediately asked him to drop his weapon, she said.
“The individual refused to comply with at least 20 orders to drop the knife,” Tisch said. “Officers also attempted to de-escalate and offer assistance, saying, ‘We are going to get you help.’”
“He then advanced toward the officers with the knife extended,” she said. “One officer discharged his firearm, striking the perpetrator twice.”
Two law enforcement sources said the standoff lasted 10 minutes before officers fatally shot Griffin.
All three victims were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Tisch added.
Authorities said that the victims did not know the suspect and that the attack appeared to be random. Tisch said that Griffin had been arrested three times previously.
The NYPD said two officers were also taken to the hospital and were in stable condition.
Grand Central Terminal, one of the city’s busiest transit hubs, serves not only daily commuters, but also draws thousands of tourists each day.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in post on X that she was briefed on the incident.
“I’m grateful to our brave officers who acted quickly to stop the suspect,” the governor said. “We’re working closely with the NYPD as the investigation unfolds.”
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani addressed the stabbing in a post on X, writing that he was “grateful to the NYPD for their quick response and for preventing additional violence.”
“The NYPD is conducting an internal investigation and will release body-worn camera footage, as it does in all incidents involving the discharge of an officer’s firearm,” the mayor added.
Following a spike in crime in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, violent crimes in New York City have been falling.
The city’s murder rate dropped more than 20% last year, from 382 in 2024 to 305, New York officials said at a press conference earlier this year. The city also saw its lowest numbers of murders in the subway system last year, four, compared with 10 in 2024, according to officials.
“Random acts of violence scare everyone,” Tisch said. “Anyone can be a victim of a random act of violence.”
