Three elderly people in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal were victimized during a severe slashing attack on Saturday morning that ended with the assailant being shot dead by police.
New York Police Department officers encountered Anthony Griffin, 44, brandishing a machete, according to a report from CBS News.
Griffin was “behaving erratically” and calling himself “Lucifer,” according to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
“The individual refused to comply with at least 20 orders to drop the knife. Officers also attempted to deescalate and offer assistance,” she added.
After refusing the orders, Griffin reportedly advanced toward the police officers, prompting one of them to shoot Griffin twice.
Anthony Griffin, the “maniac” (as described by the @nypost) who slashed three elderly people with a machete — while calling himself “Lucifer” — in an unprovoked attack at Grand Central Terminal this morning, and was shot dead by the police. Griffin had 13 prior arrests, including… pic.twitter.com/fntGFdwRsL
— Crime In NYC (@Crime_In_NYC) April 11, 2026
Griffin was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital.
The victims included an 84-year-old man on the platform, as well as a 65-year-old man and a 70-year-old woman on the 4/5/6 platform.
All three victims were hospitalized upon suffering the severe injuries, but they are each expected to recover.
Tisch said that one of the victims has serious lacerations and a skull fracture, and that police will release body camera footage.
The New York Post reported that passengers were rattled by the incident.
Claudio Delgado, 53, described the chaotic scene.
“I was coming from Connecticut when ‘Boom!’ everyone got down on the floor fast,” he recalled.
“Then the police said, ‘Get outta here! Get outta here fast!’ They said it was somebody with a gun and police were involved too. It’s scary. This is how New York City is now. It’s too much violence in New York City now.”
An unnamed worker at the station described how paramedics “came up with somebody on the stretcher, and they were pumping his chest.”
I have been briefed on an incident that occurred at Grand Central Station this morning. Reports indicate a man slashed three people on the platform with a machete. Officers shot the man when he did not drop the machete. He has since been pronounced dead.
I’m grateful to the NYPD…
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) April 11, 2026
“It’s crazy. You could be on the platform minding your business, and someone had a machete, it’s scary, scary, scary,” he added.
Jessica Munoz, who works at a bakery near the entrance to the subway, witnessed people fleeing the scene.
“I was scared, we don’t know what we can do, we just see the people running, and I asked the guy and he said there was a shooting downstairs,” she said.
“It’s scary, we didn’t know what we could do. It’s crazy.”
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