Suspect in NYC stabbings faces hate crime and attempted murder charges, source says

(CNN) — The alleged assailant accused of stabbing two men in separate incidents in New York City is being slapped with hate crime charges stemming from one of the attacks, a law enforcement official tells CNN.

Raul Morales, 51, was charged by police with attempted murder as a hate crime and assault as a hate crime for the attack on one victim who is Jewish, the official said. He’s also facing charges of assault and criminal possession of a weapon from that incident, the official said.

Morales is additionally facing charges of attempted murder, assault and criminal possession for the attack on the first victim, who police identified as an Asian man, the official said.

The two men were stabbed Thursday afternoon in broad daylight on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, according to police.

New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said witness and victim statements report the assailant yelled “Allahu Akbar” during both attacks. The initial investigation suggests mental health may have been a factor in the stabbings, she said.

The attacks took place during a year in which hate crimes in New York City increased since 2025 and more than half of the total hate crimes in the first half of the year were “anti-Jewish,” according to a NYPD report.

Morales is expected to go before a judge Friday where prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office will formally charge him. Those charges may be different from what police have charged.

The NYPD is not expected to put out a formal response to the charges.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Friday evening said he is thankful the man is “being held accountable and hope(s) he will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

“This kind of despicable violence is not who we are as a city. Every New Yorker deserves to be safe, regardless of their religion or race,” Mamdani said. “Our administration will always stand against bigotry and do everything in our power to root out antisemitism, racism, and hateful acts of all kinds.”

Both victims — ages 57 and 50 — were stabbed “throughout” their bodies, according to the NYPD. The attack was unprovoked, two law enforcement sources said.

“At this time there is no known link between Morales and either of the victims, nor between the victims and each other,” Tisch said.

Police received a 911 call just after 1:30 pm and found the first victim conscious and alert with a stab wound to his back, according to a law enforcement official.

The other victim was stabbed in the chest, according to a source. One stabbing took place at West 84th Street and Central Park West, and the other happened just blocks away near West 86th Street and Central Park West. They were transferred to Mount Sinai Morningside in stable condition and are expected to survive.

Marianna Ellenberg, a witness, said she saw “a man kneeling on the street with a knife just sticking out of his back, like a movie.”

“I’ve been robbed myself, but to actually see just the knife sticking out, it’s just like that kind of cruel violence at 2 p.m. (in) the afternoon in bright sunlight,” she added. “It just kind of reminds you this idea of your safety zone, like nothing is safe.”

Volunteers with the Jewish civilian neighborhood watch group Shomrim said they responded to a call to their hotline and arrived to the scene after one of the stabbings.

The victim they saw was wearing a yarmulke, the skullcap traditionally worn by many Jewish men, and was either on his way to or returning from synagogue, Shomrim volunteer Michael Jacobs told CNN.

“He’s a respected person in the neighborhood, minding his own business, just going to pray,” Jacobs said, noting the attack occurred on Tisha B’Av, a Jewish day of mourning and fasting.

Jacobs said volunteers saw the suspect flee and credited officers with a rapid response that led to an arrest. “The police response was very, very quick, which was massively helpful in order to be able to catch him,” he said.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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CNN’s John Miller, Alaa Elassar and Bonney Kapp contributed to this report.