The NYPD arrested a homeless man dubbed the “A-Train Ripper” following a series of knife attacks that left two homeless people dead along the NYC subway system’s A train line.
Police say Rigoberto Lopez, 21, was splattered with his victims’ blood when he was taken into custody in Upper Manhattan on Saturday, Feb. 13.
Lopez was homeless and had a history of mental illness, according to reports.
Police recovered a blood-stained knife from Lopez. His shoes were splattered with his victims’ blood.
The vicious stabbings left two people dead and two others injured. Hundreds of cops were deployed to hunt the “ripper” in a city where government officials defunded the police department following a summer of riots and political unrest.
Late Friday night, a man was found slumped over in his seat on an A train at Mott Avenue station in Far Rockaway. He suffered stab wounds to his neck and torso, and was pronounced dead at the scene.
At 1:15 a.m. Saturday, a 44-year-old woman was found in a pool of blood under her subway seat inside an A train at the 207th Street station in Inwood. She had stab wounds all over her body. She later died at a local hospital.
Two other victims, a 43-year-old man and a 67-year-old man, are being treated for stab wounds at area hospitals.
The stabbing spree sent shockwaves through the community, as New Yorkers complained about the lack of police presence in the subways, which are mostly empty due to the Covid.
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea announced 500 additional cops to be deployed across the city immediately, the NY Post reports.
The stabbings follow a series of violent subway attacks, which included a commuter shoved onto the tracks.
