Police are seeking a man armed with a knife who attacked a couple walking on the east drive of Prospect Park in Brooklyn early this morning, stabbing the 37-year-old man in the chest, police said.
The attack is unusual as the park has been quiet compared with other parts of the city plagued by violence. Police patrol has been stepped by the 78th Precinct, especially after this incident.
The attack occurred at about 1:30 a.m. as a man and woman were walking at an address the police list as 171 East Drive, near the Prospect Park Skating Rink on the approach to Harry’s Wall. The couple, apparently on a date, told police that a male black, age 25-35, wearing all black, suddenly emerged from the trees and without warning, confronted the couple and then stabbed the man in the chest and fled.
Police raced to the scene and found the victim bleeding and EMS rushed him to Kings County Hospital, where he was in stable condition. The woman, police said, was unharmed.
Police could not give any more details on this case as it is in its preliminary stages and therefore could not say whether there was a motive or whether this was unprovoked.
TC Elliston, a musician, said he spent the night sleeping on the plaza at Harry’s Wall near the skating rink, and he and his fellow campers aid heard nothing overnight.
“I don’t know who it could’ve done this, but maybe it was a jealous boyfriend, who knows. I haven’t heard anything going on here,” Elliston said.
Jonathan Fairsmith, who runs through the park, said he only runs daytime.
“You never know what is going on here at night, but I’ve found it fairly safe when out running. A lot of people are using the park lately,” Fairsmith said.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.
