One person was hospitalized after a Queens subway station attack by a man wielding what appeared to be a hammer and who had been threatening customers, according to law enforcement sources.
The incident occurred just before 1 p.m. at the Grand Avenue E/F/R station in Elmhurst, officials said. The victim was exiting the station, going up the stairs, when the suspect hit him in the back of the head with a metal object, believed to be a hammer, according to a law enforcement with direct knowledge of the situation.
The law enforcement source tells NBC New York the victim had no interaction with the alleged attacker and no words were exchanged prior to the attack, which is believed to be unprovoked.
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The victim was taken to Elmhurst Hospital after he was seen bleeding from his head and is expected to survive, a law enforcement source said. It was not immediately clear whether the 34-year-old victim was a customer or an MTA worker.
The suspect took off after the attack, with the hammer still in hand, a law enforcement source told NBC New York. No arrests have yet been made.
An investigation is ongoing.
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Just hours later at the same station, an MTA officer told officers that a man yelled at him and began to approach — as if to attack him. But that man spotted police nearby and took off. It was not clear if it was the same person suspected in the earlier attack.
In another incident that appeared to be unrelated, another man said he was exiting the 86th Street station when a man using a long umbrella as a walking stick kept bumping him with it. Despite being asked to stop, the suspect kept doing so, then attacked.
"He swung this long umbrella and hit my thumb, which started bleeding," said David Beaglehole, who showed his hand covered in blood, and may have been unaware the facemask pulled down around his neck was similar blood-stained.
The attack continued when Beaglehole tried to take a picture of the attacker.
"I followed him to the escalator, I had to go that way, and I kept trying to take a picture of him and the guy then tried to push me down the escalator," said Beaglehole.
No arrests have been made in that incident as well.
The attacks come the same day Mayor Eric Adams announced he was reinstituting random security bag checks at subway hubs. The bag checks come on the heels of the NYPD adding an extra 1,000 officers to patrol platforms and stations after a surge of incidents in January. The department said that the extra cops are proving effective, with subway crime down 15% in February.
Gov. Kathy Hochul's office said tomorrow the governor will announce new legislation and plans to protect riders, especially at major hubs, including Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station. She is expected to tap state troopers to assist the NYPD with the bag checks, and introduce new safety measures as well.
