NEW YORK (AP) — New York City police arrested an employee at a Queens borough hospital after a series of recent stabbings, officials said Thursday.
New York Police Department Commissioner Edward Caban said at a news conference that the six attacks in the past 10 days — none of which resulted in fatalities — were acts of “random and motiveless violence.”
Jermain Rigueur, a 27-year-old hospital receptionist, was arrested on charges of attempted murder in connection with three of the cases, and assault in another, all in Queens. Police said Thursday morning that he was still preparing charges for two other attacks, one in Queens and another on a subway in the Brooklyn borough.
Police released video captured by security cameras that they say shows Rigueur with a hunting knife that he allegedly used in at least one of the attacks.
The first stabbing was reported on January 8. Police said the next attack occurred Tuesday, injuring a woman walking toward her residence. The next day three men were stabbed within a period of about 30 minutes, police added in a statement released this week.
The series of attacks led authorities to request assistance from the public for information and Rigueur was arrested within 24 hours, police added.
The victims were between 34 and 74 years old and included people of different genders and races, police added. An attack followed an argument over a seat on a bus. The other attacks occurred without prior incident.
Rigueur had no prior arrests or signs of mental illness, police said. Attempts to identify an attorney who could give statements on his behalf were unsuccessful.
The suspect had also passed a background check last November as part of the process to become a hospital receptionist, Dr. Mitchell Katz, head of the city’s hospital system, said at an NYPD news conference. .
Rigueur’s job was limited to giving instructions to people arriving at the hospital, Katz said. He was placed on administrative leave and prohibited from entering the hospital until the criminal case against him is resolved, he added.
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2024-01-19 04:37:50
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