Slashings, Stabbings up Across NYC: NYPD

The NYPD says slashings and stabbings are up in New York City this year, as yet another person was left bloodied Wednesday by a knife-wielding attacker. 

Slashings in the five boroughs were up nearly 15 percent in January over the same month in 2015, according to the NYPD. There were 249 slashings in January of 2015, compared to 286 so far this month.

A 29-year-old woman is the latest victim in the criminal trend. She was slashed Tuesday night after getting into an argument with another straphanger on a 3 train in Prospect Heights.

Her attacker said “I will chop you up on this train” as he began hitting the woman with an object wrapped in a cloth around 9:30 p.m.

The woman was treated and released, but the suspect is still on the loose.

The day before that attack, a 71-year-old woman was slashed in the face aboard a D train in Manhattan.

"When we got to Broadway he pretended he was going to fall and he fell on top of me and at the same time he just grabbed my face and I didn't even know," the woman said. "It was so quick."

Her attacker was caught Monday night. 

On Jan. 16, a man needed 100 stitches and was left partially paralyzed in his face after he was slashed while walking in the East Village.

"I'm realizing I'm gushing out blood and I'm trying not to panic," the victim said after leaving the hospital. "I couldn't call 911 because there was so much blood everywhere. My hands were covered, my phone was covered."

The 28-year-old suspect in that slashing was caught and, like some of the other suspects in these random slashings, has a history of violence and mental illness.

On Jan. 6, a 24-year-old woman was slashed as she walked down a street in Chelsea.

“My gut instinct told me something was wrong. But I didn’t think anything would happen, because you don’t think these things happen,” the woman told NBC New York.

Police caught her attacker and linked him to similar crimes. He’s undergoing a psychiatric evaluation.

And on Dec. 16, a 16-year-old girl was slashed on the neck in Queens. Her hooded attacker, who wore a surgical mask and gloves, has still not been caught.

NYC Commissioner Bratton addressed the series of random slashings at a press conference. He said it’s hard to say whether any of the attackers sought to copycat previous attacks.

“I don’t know if they’re copycat or not,” Bratton said. Each one seems to have its own motivation when we make the arrest and get into what was behind it. As I’ve indicated, sometimes they’re emotionally disturbed persons. So their rationale is beyond rationalization.”

N.G. Berrill, the director of the New York Center for Neuropsychology and Forensic Behavioral Science, said that the motives of the attackers may vary but that they have an advantage over their victims in the winter.

“It’s a great time to do this. Because people are bundled up, they don’t have the same range of motion and they can’t look around. They’re just in their own worlds.”

Anyone with information about a slashing should call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS. 

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