The Williamsburg Stabber, who is more than likely a group of stabbers, has struck again. In April two cops walking the beat told us "the increased police presence was in response to a spate of machete-wielding gang violence" -- well, a lot of good the increased security has done. A tipster writes in to tell us about last weekend's Saturday morning stabbing, which police suspect was part of a gang initiation and in step with an upsurge of gang activity in the neighborhood. From the email:
At around 8-8:30 on Saturday he was walking home from the Metropolitan Pool gym. When he turned onto Driggs, he noticed someone riding on a bicycle. He turned onto Fillmore and the person rode slowly next to him. When they reached around the middle of the block the person on the bike pulled up in front of him, and without saying anything, he stabbed him 3 times in the chest. He then took off, again biking slowly away.
My friend said it was very difficult to describe his assailant. He hardly took notice of him upon seeing him on his bike, as he appeared 'like a normal, non threatening neighborhood guy' riding around at 8:30 in the morning. The man never showed his face during the incident, and afterwards he could only see him from behind.
The suspect was said to be in his 20s or 30s (a little late for gang initiation?) and word is that a trained camera on the block recorded the incident -- but it failed to capture the assailant's face.
As for the victim, the knife punctured the sack around his heart (miraculously coming within a millimeter of the heart) and he is now recovering. According to the tipster, the police noted that "Fillmore Place has become a desirable location for crime due to the fact that it is not well lit and has so little foot traffic."
While the "Metropolitan Mugger," who had been holding up women at knife point, was captured in April, muggers are still afoot; on May 31st a man was mugged at knife point on South 3rd between Roebling and Havemeyer. The difference between those assaults and the stabbings is that there is no motive with the alleged gang initiation incidents -- Saturday's victim didn't know his attacker, and nothing was taken from him.
Photo of NYPD mural via dM.nyc's flickr.
