2 People Slashed On C Subway Train In Bedford-Stuyvesant
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Two men were slashed with a box cutter Tuesday afternoon on a subway train in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
Police confirmed to CBS2 that two men -- Matthew Ruff, 23, and Oneal Mendez, 32 -- were slashed at 3:14 p.m. on an inbound C Train at the Ralph Avenue and Fulton Street stop.
Witnesses said the suspect spoke not a word as he sliced Mendez's head with the box cutter blade. Police said Ruff tried to leave the area afterward, and the same suspect slashed his head, 1010 WINS' Al Jones reported.
The victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said. They both suffered slash wounds to the top of the head and were taken to Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center, police said.
Mendez was released from the hospital late Tuesday, while Ruff remained hospitalized.
Two others suffered minor injuries just trying to get out of the way.
As CBS2's Dave Carlin reported, Kelly Patton boarded the train at the same time as the incident, with her two children. Luckily, they were several cars back from the front of the train where the screaming and bloodshed happened.
The train was temporarily held at the station.
"Four or five minutes after just sitting here, that's when the dispatcher asked for a nurse or a doctor come to the front of the train to help with a medical situation," said Patton, of Bedford-Stuyvesant. "So I just came up here and I took a car, and there were cop cars and ambulances kind of swarming the scene here, and the police were coming down the same time we came up, so they were on the scene pretty quickly."
Patton and her children got out of the way quickly and to safety as police search the area for the suspect.
The suspect fled the station on foot, but police arrested him four blocks away on Rockaway Avenue.
Police late Tuesday had the suspect in custody and were questioning him, sources said. The suspect was also taken to Brookdale for evaluation after being arrested, police said.
Police sources said the assailant and the victims did not exchange any words before the stabbing, and they did not know one another. The attack appeared to be random, sources said.
Subway riders said the incident was a reminder of a good policy -- always be alert.
"It could have been anybody, and I'm just kind of paranoid, because, you know, I take the kids with my train," said Candace Brathwaite of Bedford-Stuyvesant.
"You've got to be observant," said Tony Seabrook of Bedford-Stuyvesant. "And of course, you don't anticipate these things can happen, but you'd better watch yourself coming on these trains."
The incident promoted service changes on the C Train, with inbound trains running express from Broadway Junction to Hoyt-Schermerhorn, and outbound C Trains skipping Ralph Avenue. Service had returned to normal by the mid-evening.
