A New York City man has been arrested after police said he stabbed two people outside a synagogue while shouting “Allahu Akbar.”
Raul Morales, 51, was taken into custody Thursday afternoon following the attacks, which unfolded shortly after authorities said he stabbed a 57-year-old man in the torso at about 1:30 p.m. before striking a 50-year-old man outside an Orthodox synagogue near Central Park.
The two victims — one described as an unidentified Asian man and the other as a Jewish man — were rushed to Mt Sinai-St Luke’s Hospital. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said both are expected to survive.
Morales was later found in an apartment building several blocks from the scene, where Tisch said a “good Samaritan” helped direct officers to the place he was hiding.
Investigators are still working to establish a motive. Citing statements from victims and witnesses, Tisch said on social media that “Morales yelled ‘Allahu Akbar’ during both attacks,” adding that police are examining “whether this is a potential hate crime.”
Tisch also said mental health may have been a factor. At this stage, investigators have not identified any “link between Morales and either of the victims, nor between the victims and each other,” she said.
As the NYPD investigation continues, Mayor Zohran Mamdani condemned the violence, saying: “These hateful and despicable attacks have no place in our city.”
Mamdani said he had been briefed on the synagogue stabbings and was “relieved that both victims are in stable condition,” while also expressing gratitude to officers for their quick response.
New York City police are pictured responding to the scene of the stabbing attack in New York City’s Upper West Side on Thursday
Members of the NYPD Crime Scene Unit investigate the scene of a stabbing attack on Thursday
The attack allegedly began when Morales jumped the first victim, a 57-year-old Asian man, near West 84th Street and Central Park West and stabbed him in the back at around 1.30pm, according to the New York Post.
The second victim, a 50-year-old man wearing a yarmulke, was then attacked after leaving a synagogue at Amsterdam Avenue and West 86th Street – and was said to have been stabbed in the torso with a screwdriver.
Morales then allegedly barricaded himself inside a New York City Housing Authority apartment a few blocks away, but was arrested at around 2.45pm.
Nava Silton, who had been speaking with the second victim inside the Jewish Center ahead of the attack, described how Morales ‘tried to act like a normal person and that he wasn’t involved, and muttering “Someone should call 911,” literally pretending he was not culpable.’
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She also said the victim told her how ‘someone drew a screwdriver into the right side of my chest.’
‘It was serious, but he’s speaking and he’s conscious,’ she told the Post, calling the victim ‘an incredible person’ who had been leaving Tisha B’av services when he was attacked.
Marianna Ellenberg also recounted how she saw the wife of the first victim watch in horror as her husband was randomly knifed in the back.
Authorities arrested Raul Morales, 51, in connection with the attack at a nearby apartment building
‘We saw her covering her mouth. She was just scared,’ Ellenberg said. ‘Like it was a surreal image because it was a bright, sunny 1.30pm, Upper West Side, Central Park West day and there was just this cry.’
Morris Dahan, a member of Manhattan Shomrim, a volunteer civilian watch group in Orthodox Jewish communities, also said it was ‘unbelievable’ how cops managed to pull Morales out of the apartment building.
‘He was inside of an apartment and they went in there, 50, 60 cops with dogs, canine, sledgehammers, whatever they need to break in to doors. And sure enough, 15 minutes later, they came out with him.’
Charges were not immediately filed against Morales, who allegedly suffers from mental health issues and has at least two prior arrests – both for drug possession in 1991.
He had reportedly been seen about half an hour after officers responded to the first stabbing walking erratically and shouting incoherently – including yelling the word ‘Islam.’
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani declared on social media that ‘These hateful and despicable attacks have no place in our city’
As questions about the attack now remain, some lawmakers decried the apparent random attack on Jewish residents.
‘Disgusted by what appears to be another senseless attack on New Yorkers simply because they’re Jewish,’ New York Governor Kathy Hochul posted online.
‘The strength of New York has always been our ability to live together across every faith and background,’ she continued. ‘Anyone who tries to tear that apart will be met with the full force of the law.
‘New York will stand with our Jewish community today, tomorrow and always,’ the governor then vowed.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
