Suspect sought in NYC Museum of Modern Art stabbings caught in Philadelphia
A man wanted for a violent attack in New York City's Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) on Saturday has been arrested in Philadelphia, CBS Philly reports. Police say they found him sleeping on a bench in a Greyhound bus terminal Monday night after he allegedly set fire to his hotel room.
They say he didn't put up a fight and was being questioned Tuesday morning.
The New York Police Department had identified the suspect they were seeking in the stabbings as 60-year-old Gary Cabana, CBS New York reports, adding that Cabana's apartment building is a 10-minute walk from the museum.
The NYPD had released surveillance pictures and videos of the stabbing incident and suspect.
The video showed a man hopping over the MOMA counter before stabbing two 24-year-old employees – a man and a woman – multiple times. They were taken to the hospital and are expected to be OK.
Investigators aren't sure about the man's motive but they say his museum membership had recently been revoked.
On Monday evening, Philadelphia police and firefighters were called to the Best Western Center City for reports of a fire inside a room on the fifth floor.
It was extinguished but caused extensive damage.
Fire investigators concluded it was the result of arson. After checking surveillance video and hotel records, which may have shown the room's occupant had checked in under his real name, police say they determined the fire was started by the MOMA stabbing suspect.
"We got information that this individual was also suicidal and was suffering from some mental health issues," Chief Inspector Scott Small said. "So we realized that he was possibly armed and very dangerous."
It wasn't long before officers in Philadelphia found the man sleeping on a bench inside the bus station.
MOMA was scheduled to re-open Tuesday after being closed since the stabbings, CBS New York reports.
"[He's] usually quiet. You would never expect such a thing," Tom Donolin, one of Cabana's neighbors, told the station.
During the search for Cabana, the NYPD was monitoring a Facebook account that appeared to belong to him, CBS New York says. On Sunday, a post in the account called the stabbing at MoMA a "frame job" and said "words are sharper than knives. Bipolar is a tough road to hoe."
The post also said, "It wasn't SCREAM 6 at MoMA it was poke poke poke, wake-up call."