Crazy Attacks in Queens

What the hell is happening in Queens? Two women were attacked by the same man yesterday morning, while a man fleeing someone was shot in a diner. In the first incident, Queens reading teacher Jill Brogan was outside PS 86 in Jamaica when Frank Cabrera demanded her purse. Brogan only had keys to a Dodge Durango SUV and handed them over, and Cabrera took them but knifed her twice in the abdomen anyway. He drove off, abandoned the car at the Queens Supreme Court, and then tried to steal nurse Patrice Klein's car. A court officer stopped Cabrera, who had already punched Klein in the eye, and he was taken into custody. All this unfolded within a half hour! Brogan is recovering at a hospital; teachers union head Randi Weingarten criticized Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and Mayor Bloomberg for not visiting Brogan there.

And Omar Castro was shot at the New Post Coffee Shop in Sunnyside, Queens. Police say that Castro was under drug-related investigation, so there may be a connection. Witnesses say that Castro had been arguing with a man holding a semiautomatic pistol (note: do not argue with people carrying guns), and that Castro ran away, with the man shooting at him. When Castro got to the diner, he asked them to call for the police but then gunman managed to shoot him inside, amidst the employees and customers.

Photo outside PS 86 from the Daily News