Overview
- Two men were stabbed in separate daytime attacks on Manhattan’s Upper West Side on Thursday, with a 57-year-old Asian man and a 50-year-old Jewish man taken to Mount Sinai and expected to survive.
- Police arrested 51-year-old Raul Morales after he barricaded himself in a nearby apartment building and the NYPD Emergency Service Unit took him into custody following a brief standoff.
- Officers recovered a knife and a screwdriver at the scenes and are examining physical evidence while detectives work to determine charges.
- Victims and witnesses reported the attacker shouted "Allahu Akbar," prompting the NYPD to evaluate the incidents as potential hate crimes and to involve federal civil-rights investigators.
- Authorities say there is no known link between Morales and the victims, the initial probe cites possible mental-health factors, and local leaders have held briefings as the city contends with a recent rise in anti-Jewish incidents.