Machete-Wielding Man Attacks Three Elderly Riders at Grand Central, Shot Dead by NYPD

A random machete attack inside Grand Central Terminal left three elderly commuters bloodied Saturday morning before NYPD transit detectives shot and killed the suspect following a tense, 10-minute standoff on one of the city's most crowded subway platforms.

Anthony Griffin, 44, boarded a No. 7 train at Vernon Boulevard station in Queens around 9:30 a.m., acting erratically and reportedly yelling "Lucifer" as the train headed toward Midtown. After exiting at Grand Central, he attacked an 84-year-old man on one platform, inflicting significant lacerations to his head and face. Griffin then moved upstairs to the 4/5/6 platform, where he attacked a 65-year-old man, fracturing his skull, and a 70-year-old woman, cutting her shoulder. None of the three victims knew Griffin, NYPD Chief of Transit Joseph Gulotta confirmed, calling the attack entirely random.

A civilian flagged down two transit detectives working the station at approximately 9:40 a.m. As they moved toward the 4/5/6 platform, they encountered one of the victims emerging from the stairwell. Officers found Griffin still armed and issued at least 20 commands to drop the weapon. They also told him, "We are going to get you help." He refused. When Griffin advanced toward the officers with the knife extended, one officer fired, striking him twice. Griffin was transported to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said: "Our officers were confronted with an armed individual who had already injured multiple people and was continuing to pose a threat. They gave clear commands. They attempted to de-escalate, and when that threat did not stop, they took decisive action." All three victims were transported to area hospitals and were expected to survive. Two NYPD officers were also hospitalized in stable condition.

The MTA suspended 4/5/6 service at Grand Central–42nd Street in both directions during the investigation, with the 5 train running with delays. Authorities roped off the station entrance with yellow tape while the scene was processed. Griffin had three prior unsealed arrests but no documented history with the NYPD, Tisch said, and his motive was not immediately known.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was "grateful to the NYPD for their quick response and for preventing additional violence," and confirmed the department would release body-worn camera footage per standard protocol. Governor Kathy Hochul echoed that sentiment on social media, saying she was "grateful to our brave officers who acted quickly to stop the suspect." Jordan Washington, who works at the New York Transit Museum inside Grand Central, put it more plainly: "Obviously I knew the subway was kind of crazy, but the fact that it just happened out of nowhere, that's just nasty."

The attack unfolded at one of the world's most trafficked public spaces. Grand Central Terminal sees approximately 750,000 people pass through daily and recorded 21.6 million visitors in 2018 alone, not counting transit passengers. Tisch acknowledged the NYPD has "recently upped our presence in the transit system, including right here in Grand Central Station," even as broader subway crime trends have improved: major subway crime fell 18.1% in the first quarter of 2025 to its second-lowest level in 27 years, and the city recorded just four subway murders last year, down from ten in 2024.

The Brennan Center for Justice has found that half of all violent subway crimes occur at just 30 of the city's 472 stations, concentrated almost entirely at the highest-ridership hubs. Saturday's attack confirmed that no amount of favorable statistics fully insulates those locations from catastrophic, unpredictable violence. "Random acts of violence scare everyone," Tisch said. "Anyone can be a victim of a random act of violence.