Man Arrested After N.Y.C. Stabbing Spree that Left 2 Dead Was Previously Arrested 8 Times, Police Say

• Ramon Rivera, 51, has been charged with murder in the first degree after allegedly fatally stabbing two men on streets of New York City on Monday, Nov. 18
• Rivera also allegedly stabbed a third victim, a 36-year-old woman, who remains in critical condition
• Prior to the stabbing spree, Rivera was arrested eight other times, most recently on Oct. 17

A man has been arrested for allegedly fatally stabbing two people and injuring a third in Manhattan on Monday, Nov. 18, the NYPD said in an afternoon press conference. 

Ramon Rivera, 51, allegedly fatally stabbed a 36-year-old Hispanic man and a 68-year-old Asian man. He also allegedly injured a 36-year-old Black woman. None of the victims’ identities have been released.

He was charged with murder in the first degree, PEOPLE confirms.

Witnesses claim Rivera was wearing a gray shirt and a ski hat and used a kitchen knife in the attacks, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said. He said the motive for the stabbings is unknown, and at the time, no words were exchanged and no property was taken, just that the victims were “attacked and stabbed viciously.”

The first victim was stabbed in the abdomen outside of his job on a construction site on West 19th Street at 8:22 a.m. Rivera then allegedly fled southbound on Ninth Avenue. “The victim was removed to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:50 in the morning,” according to Kenny.

The second incident occurred at 10:27 am, at 500 East 30th Street and the East River. The second victim, an Asian man, was fishing when he was stabbed multiple times across his body. After the police responded to the 911 call, he was taken to Bellevue Hospital and pronounced dead.

Then, at 10:55 a.m., near the UN building at 42nd Street and First Avenue, the third victim was attacked. The woman was also stabbed multiple times. She was then taken to Cornell Medical Center, where she is currently in critical condition. 

A cab driver witnessed the third incident. “He believed it to be a robbery. He didn’t notice she was stabbed,” Kenny said. “So he began to follow her, thinking that he was a robbery suspect. A short time later, at 46th Street and First Avenue near the Turkish mission at the UN police at the scene are alerted by a witness that a possible perpetrator who had just committed a robbery was walking in the area.”

The man was covered in blood and taken into custody. Authorities recovered two large kitchen knives that were covered in blood. “He appears to be undomiciled,” added Kenny. 

Chief Kenny confirmed that Rivera has eight prior arrests, the last of which was for grand larceny in October of this year. He was released on Oct. 17 for time served on burglary and assault charges. That same day after his release, he was accused of taking property from a Manhattan store, per NBC 4. In January, he was arrested on charges of criminal mischief, theft, and burglary three times in Hudson County, N.J.; each time, he was indicted by a grand jury all three times. He has been arrested in connection with seven felony charges and one misdemeanor. He also has been arrested in Ohio and Florida, per NBC 4.

Rivera also was arrested three times in Hudson County, New Jersey, in January and indicted by a grand jury all three times, according to the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office. The charges in those cases included criminal mischief, theft and burglary, according to the indictments.

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“Obviously, we’ve got a lot of work to do with this,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said. “There are some real questions that we need to look at on why he was on the street. He has some severe mental health issues that should have been examined, and that’s what we’re looking at as part of the investigation.”