A terrifying and chaotic scene unfolded Saturday morning at one of New York City’s busiest transit hubs after a machete-wielding man attacked three people at the 42nd Street–Grand Central subway station, prompting officers to shoot and kill the suspect in an encounter that left commuters shaken and the city once again confronting violence underground.
Police said officers responded around 9:40 a.m. to reports of stabbings at the station. When they arrived, they encountered a man behaving erratically, claiming he was “Lucifer,” according to Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Authorities said the suspect refused repeated commands to drop his weapon — at least 20 orders — and continued to pose a threat as officers attempted to de-escalate the situation.
Tisch said the confrontation ended when the suspect advanced toward officers with the knife extended, and an officer fired two shots. The man, identified as Anthony Griffin, 44, was transported to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The three victims — an 84-year-old man, a 65-year-old man, and a 70-year-old woman — suffered injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening. Police said one man sustained significant cuts to the head and face, another suffered similar wounds along with an open skull fracture, and the woman had a laceration to her shoulder.
Officials said the suspect first attacked a victim on one platform before going upstairs and slashing two others on another platform. Transit Chief Joseph Gulotta said the attacks appear to have been random.
For commuters, the violence turned a routine Saturday morning into panic. Witnesses described crowds rushing for exits as the sound of gunfire echoed through the station. Trains bypassed the stop for hours before service resumed later in the day.
Authorities say the investigation remains ongoing, as New Yorkers are left unsettled by another moment of sudden violence in a place thousands pass through every day.
