New York UPS workers slashed on subway after argument turns violent
A 21-year-old man killed three people and injured two others earlier this month
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A 22-year-old man attacked two UPS workers with a knife early Tuesday morning on a subway train as New York City continues to grapple with violence on its transit system.
Officers responded to the assault on a downtown N train around 4:45 a.m., where they determined that the suspect started arguing with the two UPS workers, who are both 42.
The dispute escalated and the suspect slashed one of the men in the hand and torso and slashed the other in the wrist and forearm. Both UPS workers were transported to a local hospital in stable condition.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Police recovered the knife at the scene and took the suspect into custody. Charges are currently pending.
A UPS spokesperson told Fox News the company is still working to confirm that the victims are employees and get in touch with them.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ridership on New York City's subway system has plummeted during the coronavirus pandemic, but that hasn't stopped a string of senseless crime on the transit system recently.
Rigoberto Lopez, 21, was arrested earlier this month and charged with three counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder after he went on a slashing spree on the A train.
Videos of criminals pushing bystanders onto the subway tracks have shocked New Yorkers as well.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The NYPD added 644 officers to patrol above and below the city's subways earlier this month amid the transit system's violence.
Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Tony Utano said the surge in cops is welcome, but more needs to be done to combat violence on the subways.
"This is the environment we work in every day, 24-hours a day, and officials at every level of government need to do more to make it safer [for] everyone," Utano told Fox News Tuesday. "We advocated for more cops, and we’re glad to see them out on the platforms. We could use more of them to restore the subway police force to full strength."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}KIN OF ‘A-TRAIN RIPPER’ ONCE BAILED HIM OUT OF JAIL — AND NOW WISH THEY HADN’T
Utano also said the city needs to do something about the homeless population living in NYC's subway system.
"You can offer services all day and night, but what can be done with those individuals who refuse or decline assistance? That’s the big question," he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea also pointed to the homeless problem in addressing the crime spree earlier this month.
"We can't have people picked up and brought to the hospital, brought to shelters, arrested over and over and over again... and they're still out there coming back into the transit system," Shea told NY1. "It's not real efficient, and I don't think it makes sense."
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Giselle Routhier, Policy Director at Coalition for the Homeless, said on Feb. 16 that more police officers aren't the answer to this problem though.
"Mayor de Blasio and Governor Cuomo need to respond not with more stigmatization and callousness toward people without homes, or heavy-handed police removals, but with real and immediate access to housing for unsheltered New Yorkers," she said in a statement.
Mayor de Blasio's office did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News' Stephanie Pagones contributed to this report.