Two teenage girls visiting New York City from South America were stabbed while eating lunch Christmas morning at Grand Central Terminal by a 36-year-old man.
According to WABC, the suspect, Steven Hutcherson, reportedly stabbed a 16-year-old girl in the back, nicking her lung, then stabbed a 14-year-old in the thigh after getting into a verbal fight with staff at the concourse for not allowing him to sit in the restaurant area.
Hutcherson was charged with felony counts of attempted murder, assault, criminal possession of a weapon, misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child and is being investigated for a hate crime.
He allegedly made multiple statements about the victims sitting in the concourse and said “I want all the white people dead” before pulling out a knife. MTA authorities rushed to the scene. According to the New York Post, the girls were taken to Bellevue Hospital, and a hotel worker reported that they were released later that day.
Hutcherson is reportedly known to police surrounding his mental health and has 17 prior arrests. In the last six months, Hutcherson has been arrested twice and threatened authorities with a gun on both occasions despite not carrying a gun. On Nov. 7, he was arrested for threatening to shoot a stranger in the Bronx, the Post added.
Mayor Eric Adams has not been briefed on the incident, but did comment on subway crime saying, “Any time you have incidents in these high profile locations, it sends the feeling of people don’t feel safe, that’s why we have to make sure we zero in, make the arrests as soon as possible and make sure we get those repeat offenders off the streets.”
