The 27-year-old accused in a stabbing spree across Queens has been charged in five attacks after being caught on Wednesday.
Authorities charged Jermain Rigueur with three counts of attempted murder, four counts of assault, a single count of attempted assault, and criminal possession of a weapon, the New York Post reported Thursday.
Police arrested the suspect, who works as a greeter for Brooklyn’s Woodhull Hospital, on Wednesday evening after tracking him down at his home in Springfield Gardens, according to CBS New York.
“It’s scary,” one neighbor told the outlet. “I’m so happy that they caught him”:
The first incident happened on January 8 when a grandfather was stabbed in the back while walking to a laundromat. The victim claimed the suspect smiled at him as he walked away from the scene, the elderly man told the Post.
A woman was stabbed as she walked home from work Tuesday evening and three other victims were stabbed early Wednesday.
Officials with the New York City Police Department (NYPD) alerted the public to the situation and manhunt on Wednesday morning before they found him hours later.
“On top of the five slashings, police are probing whether Rigueur is the same suspect who attacked a man on a Brooklyn subway platform Wednesday,” the Post report said.
Surveillance video shows the suspect, wearing a grey hoodie and dark colored pants, walking down a sidewalk and passing in front of a shop. Moments later, he turns around and produces what appears to be a large knife from his pocket:
The CBS report said the man has no criminal history and the hospital has placed him on administrative leave.
When speaking of one of the incidents during a news conference, an official said, “The suspect actually laughed in the victim’s face after he stabbed him,” according to Fox 5 New York.