By The Diary
Sep 18, 2024, 00:19 AM EDT
Joshua Wahhab died dramatically on his night off in Brooklyn (NYC) when he had just completed his first week at two new jobs, according to his devastated family.
Wahhab, 30, was stabbed in the left torso on a busy stretch of Nostrand Ave. near Fulton St. in Bedford-Stuyvesant around 12:30 a.m. Sunday. He was about a mile from his home when he was attacked during an argument with four or five men, the NYPD said. He was rushed to Kings County Hospital, but doctors were unable to save him.
The victim had recently started working at a gym and a Whole Foods supermarket, and also led a healthy lifestyle focused on health and fitness, said his older sister Aziza Wahhab, who considered him her “baby” because she was 15 years older than him.
He worked hard all week and just wanted to relax and enjoy his evening.”
Brooklyn man fatally stabbed on night out after first week at 2 new jobs
Joshua Wahhab had started working at a gym and a Whole Foods, embracing a lifestyle focused on health and fitness.https://t.co/q6kcOMTlB2
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) September 17, 2024
“He worked hard all week and just wanted to relax and enjoy his evening,” she told Daily News Aziza on Saturday’s tragedy: “He was in shape since high school, he cared a lot about staying fit and healthy.”
Before leaving the house where he lived with his mother, Joshua had cooked and eaten. “He didn’t say exactly where he was going, but he promised to come back,” his sister added on Monday. “I still haven’t slept… I’m overwhelmed. I want to at least see his body… Violence was never his goal.”
No arrests have been made and no suspects have been identified. Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) and for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). They can also be reached via crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or by texting 274637 (CRIMES) followed by TIP577. All communications are strictly confidential.
Stabbings and slashings are common in New York City overall. There were 4,493 cases in 2023 through early December, a 6% increase over the same period in 2022. In parallel, arrests for knife crimes increased by almost 30%.
A previous NYPD report warned in August 2023 that fatal stabbings had risen 29% that year in the city compared to before the pandemic (2019). Knife attacks have become more frequent in a variety of settings: streets, buildings, homes, buses, subways, parties, schools, commercial establishments, and ATM areas.
Last week, a Hispanic man pleaded guilty to stabbing his son-in-law to death in the entrance of the house the extended family shared in Long Island (NY). On Monday, a laundry employee was stabbed by a furious customer because his clothes were not ready.