Five people were hurt in unprovoked stabbings in the Big Apple Tuesday and Wednesday – and investigators believe the same deranged suspect is behind at least two of them, law enforcement sources said.
In the first attack just before midnight Tuesday, a 34-year-old woman was walking home at 158th Street and 134th Avenue in Springfield Gardens when a stranger approached her from behind, cops said.
The unidentified man then used a knife to randomly stab her on the right side of her torso before fleeing east on 134th Avenue, authorities said.
The victim was taken to a local hospital, where she was listed in stable condition.
The NYPD on Wednesday released video of the suspect walking back and forth in front of a storefront, with the hood of his gray sweatshirt pulled up over his head.
Investigators are probing whether the same assailant was responsible for another unprovoked attack four blocks away at 134th Ave and Guy R. Brewer Boulevard Wednesday morning, police sources said.
A male attacker randomly stabbed a 74-year-old man in the stomach and a 41-year-old man in the back around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, cops said.
Both victims – who do not know each other – were taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where they were listed in stable condition, police said.
Investigators believe the knifeman then made his way to Brooklyn, where he allegedly stabbed a man at the Myrtle Avenue and Broadway subway station in Bushwick around 9:40 a.m., sources said.
The victim was stabbed once in the chest on the J/M/Z platform and taken to Woodhull Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries, cops said.
The suspect fled from the train at the next stop, Flushing Avenue, police said.
The NYPD has launched an intensive search for the unhinged attacker.
“New York, we need your immediate help!” Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey posted on X. “This individual is wanted for MULTIPLE stabbings in Queens. Someone knows him & he MUST be stopped.”
“We have to get him off the street. If you have any information regarding this suspect, call 1-800-577-TIPS. All calls are confidential.”
In an apparently unrelated attack in the Bronx, a 19-year-old man was stabbed once in the arm on board a northbound 2 train at Morris Park Avenue and East 180th Street, police said.
The victim of the 7:50 a.m. attack went to Jacobi Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition.
The suspect fled onto the street.