Suspect in Custody in Deadly Subway Stabbings

Sources: Suspect claims attack was in self defense

One of three men being questioned in Sunday's fatal subway stabbing has been taken into custody and sources say he has made statements implicating himself in the crime.

The man has not yet been charged, police sources said.

Meanwhile, two other men are being questioned in the 6th Precinct stationhouse in Greenwich Village about the stabbing that left two men dead and one injured.

The teenage suspect claims the attack was in self defense, sources told nbcnewyork.com.

Police Wednesday released a sketch of the suspect wanted in connection with the crime.

The sketch of the wanted killer describes the suspect as a Hispanic man in his mid-20s, standing between 5 feet, 10 inches and 6 feet tall, with a medium build. He was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, jeans and a black leather jacket.

Police have been formulating a profile of the suspect since Sunday's stabbing, which started as an altercation on the subway between a group of friends headed home from a night of clubbing and another subway rider.

The two deceased victims, identified as Ricardo Williams, 24, and Darnell Morrell, also 24, were headed south on the No. 2 train, which they boarded at the 42nd St. station, police said.

Witnesses say the fight began either at the 34th or 23rd Street stations when the victims attempted to toss a bag into a trash bin on the platform and accidentally hit a fellow passenger who then became enraged.

"He ... went right for a knife in his jacket," Bryan Woods, a friend of the victims, told the Daily News. "We said, 'You're going home.  We're going home. This doesn't have to get so serious.' "

That is when the knife-wielding killer allegedly stabbed Williams and Morrell multiple times in the torso. The third man, Mark Joseph, was cut in the back of the neck and arm.

The group of friends managed to push the armed man onto the platform at W. 14th St., keeping him off until the train pulled out of the station.

"When we left, he stood banging on the glass with a knife in his hand," Woods told the Daily News.

Woods and his friends fled the train at Christopher Street.

Williams, Morrell and Joseph were later found laying in pools of blood on the subway floor at the Houston Street station.

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