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Who is Ramon Rivera? 51-year-old man goes on savage NYC stabbing spree, brutally kills 2 men and 1 woman
The suspected attacker, 51-year-old Ramon Rivera, is a mentally ill homeless man with eight past arrests in New York City alone.
Two men and one one woman died after a knife-wielding man went on a savage stabbing spree across Manhattan. The suspected attacker, 51-year-old Ramon Rivera, is a mentally ill homeless man with eight past arrests in New York City alone. A cop was able to stop him with the help of good Samaritans, including a cab driver and a British tourist, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny and police sources said, according to New York Post.
“Today, we have three innocent New Yorkers, just going about their lives, who were the victim of a terrible, terrible assault,” Mayor Eric Adams said during a morning briefing. “It is a clear, clear example of the criminal justice system, mental health system that continues to fail New Yorkers.”
The attacks
The hours-long stabbing spree stretched from Chelsea and crosstown to the East River. The attack initially killed a 36-year-old construction worker, and a 68-year-old man who was fishing. Later, a third victim, a 36-year-old woman who had been stabbed multiple times, died at the hospital.
Rivera first walked up to the construction worker in front of 444 West 19th Street in Chelsea, and knifed him in the stomach, according to police. The victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
The attacker then came across the 68-year-old man fishing in the East River on 500 East 30th Street, near FDR Drive and The Water Club, and stabbed him several times before fleeing. This victim, too, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where he died.
The 36-year-old woman was stabbed in the shadow of the United Nations building at East 42nd Street and First Avenue. Several witnesses saw the attack, Kenny said. The victim was taken to Weill Cornell Medical Center while several good Samaritans contacted police. The victim later lost her life.
New York Post learned that a British tourist and UN diplomatic security personnel who witnessed the attack helped track down the suspect. Additionally, a cab driver who witnessed the attack and thought it was a robbery attempt followed the stabber and alerted Officer Robert Garvey, who finally caught up to the attacker at 46th Street and First Avenue near the Turkish mission to the UN.
“Once [Officer Garvey] was alerted that this perpetrator was possibly involved in a crime, thinking that maybe it was a robbery, he detained him, and obviously at this point, information is coming over the radio, the detective squad gets involved,” Kenny said. “We start putting the pieces together and realize it’s part of the three attacks that have taken place [this] morning. As of right now, these attacks seem to be unprovoked, that he just walked up to them and began to attack them with the knives.”
Who is Ramon Rivera?
Rivera, whose clothes were soaked in blood, had two large kitchen knives covered with blood. He was a homeless resident of the Bellevue Men’s Shelter, and had a long list of recent arrests and two mental health incidents. He even had a long history of arrests from various from other states.
Rivera spent much of this year behind bars. He was reportedly released from Rikers Island a month before the attacks. His rap sheet includes five burglary arrests going back to December 2023, as well as a petit larceny collar that month, mostly in Manhattan.
In May, Rivera was arrested for assaulting a corrections officer inside Bellevue Hospital’s psychiatric centre. He was arrested in October on a grand larceny charge after stealing a nearly $1,500 acrylic bowl from a shop in Tribeca. However, he was released on bail with non-monetary conditions after pleading not guilty. Rivera also pleaded not guilty to burglary and assault charges from three separate cases in recent months, for which he did receive jail time.
Adams said that Rivera being allowed to get back on the streets was a systemic failure. “There’s some real questions that we need to look at on why he was on the street, and he has some severe mental health issues that should have been examined, and that’s what we’re looking to spot in the investigation,” he said.
