A machete-wielding man slashed three elderly victims on subway platforms at Grand Central before police shot and killed him Saturday morning.
Anthony Griffin, 44, boarded a No. 7 train at the Vernon Boulevard station in Queens around 9:30 a.m. and rode it to Grand Central, where he attacked an 84-year-old man on the platform, according to the New York Times. Authorities say Griffin then moved upstairs to the northbound 4, 5 and 6 platform and cut two more people: a 65-year-old man and a 70-year-old woman.
The oldest victim suffered deep cuts to his head and face, while the 65-year-old sustained similar wounds along with an open skull fracture, the NYT reported. The woman was cut on her shoulder. All three were taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition. (RELATED: Two NYC Cops Landed In Hospital With Head Injuries. Mamdani Says It Was Just A ‘Snowball Fight’)
A bystander alerted two NYPD detectives working an overtime transit detail inside the station, ABC7 reported. The officers found one victim climbing the stairs and spotted Griffin on the platform below, still gripping the machete.
NYC cops shoot machete-wielding stabber at Grand Central Station, halting weekend trains https://t.co/bvj6bkuNFa pic.twitter.com/lssyTY7Fl8
— New York Post (@nypost) April 11, 2026
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters that Griffin behaved erratically and repeatedly called himself Lucifer. Officers ordered him to surrender the weapon at least 20 times and offered assistance, she said. Griffin refused and advanced toward the detectives with the blade extended, according to the Associated Press. One officer fired twice, striking Griffin. Officers then performed CPR on him at the scene, ABC7 reported. He was pronounced dead at Bellevue.
Tisch said Griffin had three prior arrests in New York City. Two law enforcement sources told CNN he actually had more than a dozen, including for menacing and slashing people with a sharp object.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani thanked officers for their response. “I’m grateful to the NYPD for their quick response and for preventing additional violence,” Mamdani said, according to the NYT.
Tisch pointed to the attack as justification for the department’s recent deployment of 175 additional officers to subway patrols. Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed $77 million in her 2027 executive budget to further expand that presence, the NYT reported. Overall transit crime fell in 2025 to its lowest level since 2009, according to NYPD data cited by the paper.