Stabbing at Randall's Island migrant shelter leaves 1 dead; 2nd resident charged with murder
NEW YORK CITY - A 27-year-old male resident of a migrant shelter on Randall’s Island was charged with murder Sunday in the fatal stabbing of another resident, the NYPD said.
Police were called to the shelter Saturday around 7:30 p.m. for a report of an assault in progress.
According to police, the victim, a man in his 20s, was stabbed in the chest. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
The NYPD was called over the weekend to the migrant shelter on Randall’s Island.
The suspect was taken into custody at the scene. Investigators said the incident started with a dispute inside the cafeteria at the shelter.
Mayor Eric Adams announced a plan back in August to house as many as 2,000 migrants on the island in the East River amid an influx of asylum seekers to the city.
More than 161,000 migrants have arrived and sought city aid since spring 2022, Adams and other officials said last month.
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NYC opens Randall's Island migrant shelter for up to 3,000 people
There are a total of six tents that will hold up to 3,000 single and married adults at the center.
"The overwhelming majority of migrants in our care came to our city in search of a better life and the American Dream," a spokesperson for City Hall said. "The small number of those disrupting that journey for the rest of the migrants in our care by acting violently will face enforcement to the fullest extent of the law."
According to officials, over 68,300 asylum seekers are in New York City shelters. The numbers are evidence of the city’s ongoing migrant crisis.
Shelters have been operating at capacity, so much so that city-imposed limits remain on shelter stays – 30 days for singles and 60 days for families.
The former St. Brigid School on the Lower East Side now functions as a shelter reentry facility, where migrants go to be assigned to a new shelter once their stay is up.
Police were called there this weekend following an altercation that, according to witnesses, started with someone cutting the line.
The NYPD said it led to two officers sustaining minor injuries, and two migrants getting arrested. They are now facing a string of charges, including resisting arrest.
The Associated Press wire services helped contribute to this report.