A man on Saturday stabbed two employees multiple times inside the Museum of Modern Art in New York, leaping over a reception desk to attack them after he was denied entrance for previous incidents of disorderly conduct, authorities said.
Police said the victims, a 24-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman, were in a stable condition at Bellevue Hospital.
Their names were not immediately released.
Photo: Reuters
People posted on social media that museumgoers ran for the exits in confusion and chaos after the stabbing.
New York Police Department Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller said the man’s membership had been revoked for two separate incidents of disorderly behavior at the museum in the past few days.
A letter informing the suspect of his expired membership had been sent out on Friday, but he came to the museum on Saturday saying that he wanted to see a film there, Miller said.
He then became upset and stabbed the museum employees in the back, collar bone and the back of the neck, Miller said.
They were rushed to the hospital within minutes.
Video footage showed which way the suspect went after leaving the museum, Miller said.
Police shared photographs of the attacker late on Saturday night, asking for the public’s help finding him.
Miller did not identify the man by name, but described him as a white male wearing a black jacket, blue surgical mask, a colorfully patterned shirt and hood.
He said the man was a “regular” at the museum, and that the building had adequate security.
The department has no record of a previous arrest for the man.
The museum did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment, but said on social media that it would be closed to the public yesterday.
The midtown Manhattan museum evacuated its patrons on Saturday afternoon.
Yuichi Shimada, a museumgoer present at the time of the attack, wrote on Twitter that he was on the second floor when a couple suddenly came running toward him and he heard security guards’ radios throughout the museum loudly announcing something at the same time.
“It was chaotic, partly because it was snowing, with a group of young women in a panic and crying,” Shimada said. “Not being good with claustrophobia myself, I headed for the exit early.”
He said he was diverted to the side on his way out as a stretcher was hurriedly brought in.
Police vehicles and ambulances, emergency lights flashing, thronged outside the museum as dozens of patrons hurried away.
New York Mayor Eric Adams wrote on Twitter that he had been briefed on the attack and said the victims’ injuries were not life-threatening.
“We’re grateful for the quick work of our first responders,” said Adams, a former New York City police captain.
The Museum of Modern Art, founded in 1929, is one of New York City’s top tourist attractions, and drew more than 700,000 visitors in 2020.
Its collection of modern art includes The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh and works by Henri Matisse and Paul Gauguin.
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