Authorities said officers stopped a random machete attack, but the fatal shooting of the suspect now carries its own review.
NEW YORK, N.Y. — New York police were investigating both a random triple stabbing and an officer-involved shooting Saturday after officers at Grand Central fatally shot a machete-wielding man who authorities said had just attacked three riders.
The two tracks of the case came together within minutes on crowded subway platforms under Midtown Manhattan. Police said Anthony Griffin, 44, wounded three older adults after arriving on a No. 7 train from Queens. Officers then confronted him on an upper platform and opened fire when he advanced with the weapon after repeated commands to drop it. That sequence ended the attack but set off the standard reviews that follow any NYPD shooting, including an internal investigation and a planned release of body-worn camera video.
According to Commissioner Jessica Tisch, officers first received reports of slashings around 9:40 a.m. at the 42nd Street-Grand Central station. Investigators said Griffin had been acting erratically before he pulled out a large blade and attacked an 84-year-old man on the No. 7 platform. He then moved upstairs to the 4, 5 and 6 platform level and attacked two more people, a 65-year-old man and a 70-year-old woman. Police said the victims did not appear to have been targeted for any personal reason. Gulotta, the transit chief, said the attacks looked random. Within that narrow window, the station shifted from a regular weekend commute pattern to an emergency scene with officers, medics and fleeing passengers converging on the same stairways.
The police response centered on two detectives assigned to transit security work. Officials said the officers were flagged down by a witness or victim as they moved toward the violence. On the platform, Tisch said, the detectives ordered Griffin to drop the machete at least 20 times and offered assistance in an effort to calm the encounter. She said he refused, identified himself as “Lucifer,” and advanced with the blade extended. One detective fired twice. Griffin was taken to Bellevue Hospital and pronounced dead there. Tisch defended the officers’ actions at an afternoon briefing, saying they faced an armed man who had already hurt multiple people and still posed an immediate threat on one of the busiest train platforms in the city.
That police account will now be measured against video, witness interviews and forensic evidence. NBC New York reported that the department said it would release body-worn camera footage, as it does after firearm discharges by officers. The NYPD’s internal investigation is expected to examine distance, timing, line of sight, verbal commands, bystander positions and the exact moment when Griffin moved toward the officers. Investigators also are likely to review station surveillance footage to track Griffin’s path from Queens into Grand Central and to test the official timeline against recorded images. Authorities have not yet said whether any civilian video exists from the platform or whether all witnesses have been identified and interviewed.
The slashing victims remained central to the case even as the shooting review began. Tisch said all three were expected to survive, though one man suffered severe head and face lacerations, another had similar wounds and an open skull fracture, and the woman had a shoulder wound. Police did not release their names or say when they might be able to leave the hospital. Officials also did not explain whether the suspect exchanged words with any of them before the attack. That gap matters to investigators because it could help show whether the violence followed any pattern, however brief, or whether it was purely opportunistic. So far, police have said only that the victims were older adults encountered inside the station during the morning rush.
The setting ensured broad public attention. Grand Central is a transit crossroads where subway riders, Metro-North commuters and visitors funnel through packed entrances and layered platforms. A violent attack there can disrupt service, lock down public space and spread fear well beyond the immediate platform. Police urged riders to avoid the area during the investigation, and train service bypassed the station for hours before resuming later in the day. The station’s architecture, with tight stairs and heavy foot traffic, also shaped the witness experience. Commuter Beau Lardner said he heard loud bangs through his headphones and then saw a wave of people rush back through the turnstiles. His account matched other descriptions of fast-moving panic as riders tried to understand whether the danger was still unfolding.
City and state leaders responded with praise for the officers while leaving the formal fact-finding to investigators. Gov. Kathy Hochul said she was grateful for the quick police response. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the officers prevented additional violence and noted that the three wounded riders were in stable condition. At the same time, the basic record of Griffin’s life before Saturday remained incomplete. Tisch said he had three prior unsealed arrests, but police did not provide a full summary of those cases, say whether he had prior contact in the transit system, or explain whether mental health history played any role in the encounter. Those unanswered questions are likely to shape later debate once investigators release more records.
For now, the official picture is clear in only its broad outline: a man entered Grand Central with a machete, three people were hurt, officers fired when he advanced and the suspect died at the hospital. The next public milestones are expected to be the release of body-camera footage and additional findings from the NYPD review.
Author note: Last updated April 12, 2026.