Queens serial stabbing suspect arrested, charged; at least 5 injured

QUEENS, N.Y. - A suspect was arrested Wednesday in connection with a stabbing spree that left at least five people injured in just over a week in Queens, the NYPD said.

The suspect, identified as 27-year-old Jermain Rigueur, is being charged in four of the five attacks so far. Charges include attempted murder, assault, attempted assault and criminal possession of a weapon. Police say what helped them find Rigueur was the lanyard he was wearing in the surveillance video. 

Police say that Rigueur works at Woodhull Hospital in Brooklyn as a greeter.

Police held a press conference Thursday to detail where they are at in the investigation. The NYPD also announced two more subway stabbings in the Bronx and Columbus Circle. 

From 2022 to 2023, New York City has seen a 5% increase in stabbings and slashings, from 4,318 in 2022 to 4,553 through Dec. 18 in 2023. 

"When you have a chilling incident, as a person who chooses to randomly assault and stab individuals not only on our streets, but on the subway system. It just sends the wrong message to New Yorkers that use our subway systems and who live in the various communities of the city," Adams said at the press conference. 

The people injured in the stabbing spree include four men and one woman. The woman is 34; the men's ages range from 36 to 74. All injuries were non-life-threatening.

The stabbing incidents happened within the last nine days, with three of them occurring Wednesday between 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. At 4 p.m. Wednesday, a community member allowed access to their apartment video surveillance and he was seen wearing same clothes and same backpack. Rigueur was caught at 133-19 160 St.

The NYPD said the stabbing incidents happened within the last nine days.

According to the NYPD, there were five attacks in total:

• The first attack happened around 6:20 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 8, when a 61-year-old man was stabbed in the back near 157th St. and 137th Ave. The suspect reportedly laughed in the victim's face after the stabbing, police said.
• In the second incident, a 34-year-old woman walking home was reportedly stabbed in the torso Tuesday morning near 158th St. and 134 Ave.
• On Wednesday, around 7:30 a.m., police believe the same man attacked two people at 134th Ave. and Guy Brewer Boulevard. A 74-year-old man was stabbed in the abdomen, while a 41-year-old man was stabbed in the back.
• Police say the first victim, a 74-year-old man, was escorting his wife to work on 134th Ave. As they were walking, the suspect ran up behind them and without saying a word, stabbed the man in the back. The suspect then ran away to 161st St. There, a 41-year-old man, who had simply left his home to move his car to a legal parking spot, was stabbed once in the abdomen by the suspect, police said.
• The fifth incident happened 25 minutes later in Jamaica, Queens, near Parsons Boulevard and Archer Avenue. The victim, a 36-year-old man, was on his way to work. He got on an MTA bus at Guy Brewer Boulevard and 115th Ave. While riding the bus, he got into a verbal dispute with the suspect over a seat. Both the suspect and the victim got off the bus at Parsons Boulevard and Archer Avenue, when the suspect stabbed the victim once before fleeing on foot again.

Police said the suspect attempted to make statements to victims, but could not be understood.

There were five attacks in total, the NYPD said.

Police have confirmed the suspect is the same in all five incidents, but are also looking into an additional stabbing that happened on a northbound J train in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where a man was stabbed. The suspect fits the description of the man wanted in connection to the other stabbings.

NYPD officials say the motive is unclear.

Police are also going to look into any cold cases of stabbings, to determine if Rigueur was the perpetrator.

Correction: One stabbing attack in Queens was mistakenly reported to have occurred within the NYC subway system.