The deranged man behind a violent SoHo stabbing on Monday afternoon that left a woman fighting for her life has a dubious criminal record that included attempting to kill another woman years earlier, sources familiar with the case told amNewYork.
According to police sources, 46-year-old Muslim Brunson was charged with attempted murder, assault, and criminal possession of a weapon for the afternoon rampage.
NYPD Assistant Chief James McCarthy said the attack unfolded when Brunson, who is homeless, approached a 29-year-old woman as she walked eastbound on Broome Street toward Wooster Street at about 3:04 p.m. on April 7. The suspect allegedly came up behind her and whacked her over the back with a bottle.
Although this victim managed to flee mostly uninjured, McCarthy said, Brunson allegedly grabbed a shard of the smashed glass and plunged it into the neck of a 25-year-old woman. She was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in critical condition and underwent emergency surgery. As of Tuesday morning, she was listed in stable condition.
Officers from the 1st Precinct responded to the incident.
“She did not look good. She was bleeding from the neck and was pale as she was put in the ambulance,” an eyewitness said.
According to sources familiar with the case, this is not the first time Brunson has attempted to murder a woman for no apparent reason.
In October 2023, the sources said, Brunson shoved a 30-year-old woman into the path of an oncoming E train at the 5th Avenue-53rd Street station in Midtown. She suffered serious injury but survived the attack.
Law enforcement sources said the dastardly incident occurred moments after he assaulted another woman, age 26, in the same stop.
Cops picked up Brunson in January 2024 and charged him with attempted murder. Despite those incidents — and a July 2022 incident in which he assaulted a police officer — Brunson was set free sometime after his January arrest, sources told amNewYork.
Brunson also has a history of mental health encounters with police, the sources said.
“Mental illness might be a cause of this, but we haven’t confirmed that yet,” Chief McCarthy said in the hours following Monday’s attack.
A nearby security guard, who asked not to be named, was instrumental in saving her life by applying pressure to her wound until EMS arrived.
“I’m trained for retail theft, but personally, I’m trained for other stuff,” the guard said. “So it’s just it could be anybody, daughter, sister. I’m here to help anybody. It makes no difference who you are.”
