#NYPD #Subway #Ripper #Homeless #Arrest

A subway stabber who killed two homeless people and slashed two others during a violent 14-hour spree has been caught, and was splattered in blood when he was arrested, police say.

The man, who has not yet been named, was in still in possession of the knife and had blood on his sneakers, cops told the New York Post.

The man was wearing layers of clothes and a winter coat with high-top sneakers, sources told the New York Daily News.

The suspect was reportedly arrested in Upper Manhattan, just blocks from where the bloody rampage began and he is in custody at the 34th Precinct in Washington Heights.

The fatal stabbings took place on opposite ends of the A subway line, which connects the Inwood section of Upper Manhattan with Rockaway, Queens.

NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea announced on Saturday that a 'surge' of 500 additional cops for the department's Transit Bureau would be immediately deployed across the city.

The wounded victims were reportedly helping police identify the assailant earlier on Saturday.

During a news conference on Saturday, police told reporters that the violent stabbing spree started at around 11:20am on Friday.

That's when a 67-year-old man was stabbed by an assailant at the 181st Street A-line subway station.

The victim is expected to survive, according to police.

He told cops that his attacker had shouted 'I am going to kill you', before he was stabbed in the right knee and left buttock, New York Post reported.

The next attack took place before midnight, when authorities found a man stabbed to death in his seat on the A train at the Mott Avenue station in Far Rockaway, Queens.

The victim died of stab wounds to his neck and torso. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Just two hours later, a 44-year-old was found unconscious after she was stabbed while riding the A train at the 207th Street Station in Upper Manhattan.

The woman was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Just a few minutes later, a 43-year-old man was randomly stabbed at the A subway station on West 181st Street in Manhattan.

The man was rushed to hospital where he is listed in stable condition.

The slashing spree sparked a massive manhunt and an outcry for safer subways.

Officers were seen patrolling subway stations across the city looking for the alleged suspect before the man was arrested. The NYPD plans to deploy an additional 865 officers to patrol the subway system on Monday.

Officials said had said earlier on Saturday they believed the attacker to be possibly a Hispanic male standing at a height of 5ft tall and wearing a face mask.

'Three of these incidents appear to be connected and the Detective Bureau is looking into the possibility that all four could have been committed by one individual,' Transit Chief Kathleen O'Reilly told reporters.

'We will work tirelessly to bring the individual or individuals to justice.'

DailyMail.com has reached out to the New York Police Department for further comment.

Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, there has been an uptick in violent incidents inside the largely desolate subway stations as ridership has plummeted due to fears of getting infected.

Transit workers have been demanding that the 24-hour subway schedule be resumed after several reported being assaulted during the overnight hours when trains are shut down for COVID-19 cleanings.

The union representing Metropolitan Transportation Authority workers who operate the city's public buses and subways are assaulted, harassed, spit upon, and in severe cases nearly killed by assailants in largely empty stations.

In November, the New York Police Department said that it would add around 200 cops on its patrols of subway stations after a series of disturbing incidents.