One person was arrested late Saturday, sources told ABC News.
One person was arrested on Saturday night for several stabbings that left two victims dead in the New York subway system within a 24-hour period, police sources told ABC News.
The charges against the person are still pending.
All the incidents occurred along the subway line A. At least three of the stabbings appear to be connected, and the police are investigating whether the fourth is also connected, New York Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said on Saturday at a news conference.
The first incident occurred on Friday at approximately 11:20 am, when a 67-year-old man was stabbed by a stranger at West 181st Street station in Manhattan, police said. He was treated at a local hospital and is recovering.
Later that day, shortly after 11 pm, a man was found on Train A at Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue in Queens, stabbed in the neck and torso, police said. EMS arrived and declared him dead on the spot.
Two hours later, at approximately 1:15 am on Saturday, an MTA official found an unconscious 44-year-old woman on the train at Manhattan’s 207th Street station with several stab wounds, police said. She was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
The fourth incident occurred at West 181st Street station in Manhattan, where a 43-year-old man was stabbed just before 1:30 am on Saturday, police said. He underwent surgery at a nearby hospital and was in a stable condition.
All the victims appear to be homeless and the stabbings have not been caused, police said. The three nightly incidents are related, police said.
Detectives stressed that the investigation is preliminary and that they are trying to determine definitively whether the four stabbings were committed by the same person.
In light of deadly violence, the NYPD will immediately send 500 more police officers around the city to patrol the above and below ground traffic system, said Shea.
“I know what the train used to be like, and when you look at what the train looks like now and see how much crime has fallen over the years, but we don’t want to take a step back,” said Shea. . “We want to do everything in our power to ensure that this is the most secure system and that people also feel secure.”
The heads of the city’s transit system and the public transport workers’ union considered the attacks “outrageous and unacceptable”.
“Every customer and every one of our brave and heroic traffic workers deserves a safe and secure transit system,” said New York City Transit acting president Sarah Feinberg and TWU Local 100 president Tony Utano in a joint statement. “We have drawn the attention of the city to add more police to the system and do more to help those in desperate need of mental health assistance. The time to act is now. “
Aaron Katersky of ABC News contributed to this report.