Back To Back Subway Stabbings In The Bronx Leave Riders On Edge
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Three people have been stabbed in two separate incidents in as many days in the Bronx.
As CBS2's Dave Carlin reports, temperatures are rising and so are tempers.
"It's really just anger, bottled anger, just boiling over," rider Pam McLean said.
In the most recent incident, authorities say the victim became involved in a dispute with another man which turned into a physical confrontation with a group of men just after 10 p.m. Friday inside the station at 167 Street and River Road in the Concourse neighborhood.
"The overwhelming majority of these incidents are people getting into some type of a beef," NYPD Transit Bureau Chief Joseph Fox said.
The 39-year-old victim was stabbed in the abdomen before the group fled in an unknown direction.
He was rushed to Lincoln Hospital. His condition was not immediately known.
Police describe one of the suspects as a black male in his 20's wearing a grey jacket.
Friday's stabbing comes just over a day after police say Derrick Wilson of the Bronx stabbed 21-year-old Zakia Lewis in the arm and her 24-year-old friend, Shaday Tripp, who is five months pregnant, in her neck after they bumped into him on a 2 train around 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
"It's crazy, it's crazy, it's just getting bugged out," one rider said.
Wilson is charged with attempted murder, assault, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon charges.
So far in 2017, the NYPD reports 45 cases of subway riders being attacked with blades or sharp objects, compared to 38 for the same period last year.
"You're going to probably see a lot more uniformed presence in the subways because of this," said Joe Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant.
"You can't put a police officer in every subway car," he added. "If you go into a subway situation and you think there's something wrong, just go to another car. Wait until the next stop, get out of the car, and go into the next one."
The NYPD said there is some good news. Robberies and thefts in the subways are down 18 percent this year compared to this time last year.
Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74682). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.