NYPD investigating 2 more attacks in the transit system as officials look for new ways to keep riders safe
NEW YORK -- Police say a man was hit over the head with a metal object in a Queens subway station Tuesday.
These attacks underground have MTA officials desperately looking for solutions.
In the Queens Boulevard-Grand Avenue subway station Tuesday night, police were out in full force.
Marlena Niklinski and her mother watched their surroundings as they exited the station, especially after learning a suspect randomly threw a metal object at a subway rider from behind hours earlier. The victim was taken to a local hospital with a head injury.
"A lot of bad things going on," Niklinski said. "I'm scared. I'm worried ... I don't drive, so I have to take the public transportation."
Just a few hours later, at the 86th Street station in Manhattan, police say another subway rider was injured when someone hit him with an umbrella, cutting his hand.
"He swung this long umbrella and hit my thumb, which then started bleeding," victim David Beaglehole said. "Typically, I feel safe on the subway ... I see it as hopefully an isolated incident."
Meanwhile, police have made an arrest in another subway attack in Manhattan. Investigators say a 27-year-old man was slashed with a box cutter while riding an A train approaching Penn Station late Friday night.
The victim told police the man approached him and made anti-LGBTQ remarks before attacking him. Police say 46-year-old Milton Hamlin was arrested Tuesday and charged with assault as a hate crime and menacing as a hate crime.
The NYPD says 1,000 police officers have been surged into the subway systems as riders are on edge.
Mayor Eric Adams says he'll escalate bag checks at some subway stations in all four boroughs with subway lines.
"We have two models that are promising, but that has to go a very through rigorous inspection ... We're definitely on the pathway of coming up with some new technology that's going to help us identify weapons," he said.
Officials say these checks will help confiscate weapons. Chief of Transit Michael Kemper explains officers are set up at turnstile areas, and this is what riders can expect before they pay.
"And they have the option of not going in to the subway system, not having to pay to go in, and they could just leave without any penalty. But if they do come in, and their number is chosen, if you will, then they're subject to having to having their bag searched," he said.
Kemper say a major issue in the subway system right now are repeat offenders.
As far as the suspect in this latest attack, he is on the run.