3 unprovoked fatal stabbings across Manhattan on Monday show the failures of the criminal justice and mental health systems, city’s mayor says
Officers of New York Police Department (NYPD) investigate the site where the suspect of 3 knife attacks that killed 2 was captured and taken into custody at East 46th Street and First Avenue.
(CNN) — Three unprovoked stabbings across Manhattan Monday morning that left two men and one woman dead show how the criminal justice and mental health systems fail New Yorkers, the city’s mayor said.
The suspect is 51-year-old Ramon Rivera – who appears to be homeless and has a history of “severe mental health issues,” authorities said.
New York Mayor Eric Adams said what happened was a “clear example” of how the criminal justice and mental health systems fail New Yorkers. The investigation will partly focus on why the suspect was on the streets despite being sentenced for a crime a few months ago and if supposed “severe mental health issues” were not evaluated, the mayor said at a news conference.
Rivera has eight prior arrests, with the most recent for grand larceny in October, according to city officials.
The stabbings happened over less than three hours Monday morning.
Around 8:22 a.m., a 36-year-old male, identified as Angel Lata Landi of Peekskill, New York, was standing in front of a construction site near Chelsea when a “light-skinned man” with a beard approached him and stabbed him in the abdomen, police said. He was transported to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
More than two hours later, at approximately 10:25 a.m., a second person was stabbed, police said. The victim, a 67-year-old male, was fishing near the East River when he was attacked and stabbed multiple times in the abdomen. Police initially said the victim was 68 years old in an earlier update.
He was transported to Bellevue Hospital, where he was also pronounced dead. His identity was still pending family notification, according to the NYPD.
Then, at around 10:55 a.m., a 36-year-old woman, later identified as Wilma Augustin, was stabbed multiple times in the chest and left arm near the United Nations Headquarters, police said. She was transported to New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where she later succumbed to her injuries.
Police said a cab driver saw what he believed to be a robbery and followed the suspect before flagging down an NYPD officer. The officer took the suspect into custody, where police recovered two bloody kitchen knives and observed him wearing bloody clothing.
Rivera has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder. Police said they are not currently looking for any additional suspects. It’s unclear whether Rivera has retained an attorney. He was arrested at 7:45 p.m. on Monday.
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