UPDATE: Mugger Stabs Man Walking on Upper West Side Street, 3rd Slashing or Stabbing in NYC in 24 Hours
A person was slashed outside a busy clothing store in lower Manhattan Thursday afternoon, less than a day after a panhandler cut a waiter after being kicked out of a restaurant in Greenwich Village.
Witnesses and police say the man was slashed outside the Supreme store near Lafayette and Prince streets in Soho at about 2 p.m.
Police say that the man might have been slashed after an argument with another shopper; witnesses have told NBC 4 New York that the suspect was a robber trying to steal the clothes the man had just bought.
Witnesses say that the attacker ran off after cutting the man.
"I initially thought he got punched but I looked closer, and there was a lot of blood gushing," said Devon Harris.
The victim was slashed on the day the retailer unveiled its spring and summer collections, according to the store's Facebook page. There was a line of shoppers outside the store and security at the time.
Local
Authorities were at the scene afterward treating the man. Firefighters said that the man wasn't taken to the hospital.
Police Friday released a surveillance image of the suspect, below:
It's the second reported slashing in less than a day in lower Manhattan.
On Wednesday night, a suspect begging for money for a basketball team slashed a waiter after being asked to leave the Silver Spurs restaurant, near NYU's campus.
The waiter, 25, was taken to the hospital after the attack.
Anyone with information about either of the slashings should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
