'No words exchanged, just attacked, viciously': 3 killed in 'random' stabbing incidents across New York city

Three people were killed in separate stabbing incidents across Manhattan on Monday. The New York Police have arrested a 51-year-old man in connection with the attacks.
The first stabbing happened around 8.30 am near the Hudson River on West 19th Street. A 36-year-old construction worker was killed at his worksite. Two hours later, a 68-year-old man was fatally stabbed while fishing in the East River near East 30th Street.
At around 10:55 am, a 36-year-old woman was stabbed multiple times near the United Nations headquarters on East 42nd Street. She later died at a hospital. A cab driver witnessed the attack and alerted police, who apprehended the suspect on nearby First Avenue and East 46th Street.
Police say the suspect did not speak to his victims and nothing was stolen. "No words exchanged. No property taken. Just attacked, viciously,” said Joseph Kenny, the New York police department's chief of detectives. “He just walked up to them and began to attack them with the knives."

Mayor Eric Adams addressed the attacks while speaking to reporters, saying, "Three New Yorkers. Unprovoked attacks that left us searching for answers on how something like this could happen."
Authorities suspect that the

perpetrator may be homeless

. He had been sentenced in a criminal case a few months ago and was arrested in a grand larceny case last month. Police have not yet released the names of the suspect or the victims.
The violence happened in a city where crime remains a major concern in politics and daily life, especially since the pandemic. Murders in New York city have fallen by 14 per cent over two years, but serious assaults are up by 12 per cent, according to police statistics.