A 13-year-old girl has been arrested and charged in connection with the stabbing of a 51-year-old man at the Great Kills train station in Staten Island (NYC).
The suspected teen faces charges of attempted murder and assault, according to the New York police.
The victim was stabbed in the back and survived the attack. The New York police did not release the name of the suspect because she was a minor. The attack began at 2:36 pm on Friday 21 April with a dispute on the train from St. George to Tottenville and later spread to the station platform.
A passerby captured the melee just a few meters away and the video was released by Staten Island Advance. Caution is advised when viewing the dramatic images.
The sequence shows a train platform full of students as two people fall to the ground. A person in a black hoodie can be seen kicking and punching a man multiple times.
Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella called the stabbing and other recent incidents of violent crime a direct result of the “tourniquet concept of justice.”
Fossella joined by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) and representatives for Councilmembers Joe Borelli (R-South Shore) and David Carr (R-Mid-Island), and Assemblymen Michael Reilly (R-South Shore) , Sam Pirozzolo (R-Mid-Island) and Michael Tannousis (R-East Shore) held a news conference Monday at the train station calling for changes to reform bail and increase age laws that they say are the reason for the skyrocketing violent crime on Staten Island and throughout the city.
All charges are mere accusations and those charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
In the last few days at least two teenagers have been murdered in NYC. 30% of New Yorkers want to move to another state to flee crime and high costs, according to a recent survey. Young people are increasingly protagonists in gun violence in New York as victims and perpetrators, particularly shootings and attacks with bladed weapons.
The pandemic, the anti-police climate and the penal reform have been identified as factors that have triggered crime in the city. In September an NYPD report found that recidivism among teens had risen sharply over the past five years and the number of gunmen and their underage victims had tripled.