NYC Penn Station stab spree suspect is homeless and emotionally disturbed, NYPD sources say

Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News on Jun 8, 2026

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NEW YORK — The suspect cops say stabbed five men in an unprovoked spree in Manhattan’s Penn Station appears to have mental health issues, police sources said Monday.

The suspect is apparently homeless and has prior arrests in New Jersey for assault and drugs, sources said. His rampage started about 7 p.m. Sunday in the boarding area for New Jersey Transit.

The victims, all men from 30 to 60 years old, were rushed by medics to Bellevue Hospital with wounds described as non-life-threatening. One victim is in serious condition while the others suffered moderate or minor wounds.

The suspect also was hospitalized. Charges against him are pending.

One of the victims, Henry Obadiah, 60, told ABC7 New York he had returned from the Jersey Shore and was leaving Penn Station when he saw “two people tussling with each other.”

“I didn’t think anything of it and I’m walking by and the guy, the crazy guy locked eyes with me and then he just came at me with a roundhouse and got me,” Obadiah said. “I thought it was a punch. He got me right in the face. The first thing I thought I was going to go after him and then I heard this guy in the escalator, he goes, ‘He’s got a knife, he’s got a knife!'”

Amtrak police officers arrested the suspect moments after he attacked his fifth victim.

Blood was splattered across the hall in the “pit area” of the NJ Transit section of the station, said Adil Kha, 21, who works in a store in the station and saw one man stabbed in the face.

“I saw a guy that was really bleeding badly,” Kha said. “It was all on the floor and someone was calling for help and he just fell down.”

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