Five injured in stabbing at Penn Station in Manhattan

Five people were injured in a stabbing at Penn Station on Sunday evening, authorities said. The attack occurred around 7 p.m. on the NJ Transit concourse inside the sprawling rail complex beneath Madison Square Garden in Midtown Manhattan.

One person suffered a serious injury, two sustained moderate injuries, and two others suffered minor injuries, according to the Fire Department of New York. All five victims were transported to Bellevue Hospital and are expected to survive.

Law enforcement officials characterized the attack as a random act of violence. The suspect, described as a homeless person who is emotionally disturbed and known to frequent Penn Station, was taken into custody by responding officers. Amtrak police were among the first agencies to respond after the emergency call came in around 7 p.m. Investigators recovered a knife on the NJ Transit side of Penn Station believed to have been used in the attack. Video from the scene showed police placing the suspect in a wheelchair as he was escorted away.

A food vendor employee at Penn Station described the scene as people rushed away from the knife-wielding attacker. "I saw people running, nothing else. They were terrified. I saw how one officer managed to tackle the person down," the employee said. "I'm working here, and so not only me, my co-workers too, my supervisor over there is working, so we're terrified because it's about our own safety as well."

Residents expressed concern about the randomness of the attack in a major public space. Nia Carrington, 52, a Hamilton Heights resident, told media outlets that the incident unnerved her. "You can be standing there waiting for your train and the next thing you know is you're waking up in the hospital with one of your eyes gone," she said.

Authorities did not immediately release the suspect's identity or provide information about potential charges. Officials said the victims were not targeted and the attack appeared to be indiscriminate.

The stabbing occurred less than a day before thousands of fans were expected to descend on neighboring Madison Square Garden for Game 3 of the NBA Finals. The incident also came as the city was heightening security measures ahead of a presidential visit to the area.