Daylight Stabbings Shock Manhattan

A man allegedly screamed “Allahu Akbar” while stabbing two strangers in broad daylight on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, and police are now investigating it as a possible hate crime.

Quick Take

Police say victim and witness statements confirm the suspect shouted “Allahu Akbar” during both attacks.
Suspect Raul Morales, 51, was arrested and charged in connection with both stabbings.
Victims were identified as a 57-year-old Asian man and a 50-year-old Jewish man, stabbed minutes apart.
NYPD says the attacks appear unprovoked and is weighing hate-crime charges alongside a mental-health theory.
New York’s mayor faced criticism for a slow public response while other officials condemned the attack quickly.

Broad Daylight Attack Shocks Upper West Side

Two men were stabbed within minutes of each other on Manhattan’s Upper West Side in an assault the New York Police Department (NYPD) called unprovoked. One victim, a 57-year-old Asian man, was stabbed in the back near West 84th Street and Central Park West. A second victim, a 50-year-old Jewish man, was also hospitalized in stable condition after being stabbed in the chest.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters that, according to victim and witness statements, the suspect yelled “Allahu Akbar” during both attacks. Multiple witnesses reportedly backed up that account, describing the phrase being shouted right before the knife came out. Police arrested 51-year-old Raul Morales and charged him in connection with both stabbings, treating them as a single coordinated attack spree.

Hate Crime Investigation Opens as Motive Questions Linger

Investigators say they are evaluating whether the stabbings should be charged as a hate crime, given the shouted phrase and the identities of the victims. One victim was Asian and one was Jewish, and early reports briefly and mistakenly described both men as Jewish before that detail was corrected. That kind of correction is common in fast-moving cases, but it does not change the core allegation about what the suspect shouted.

Police have not found any known link between Morales and either victim, or between the two victims themselves. That absence of a personal motive strengthens the case that the attacks were random and possibly targeted based on how the victims looked or where they were, rather than personal grudges. Investigators are still building the full picture before any formal hate-crime charge is filed.

Commissioner Tisch also said mental health may have been a factor in the attacks, a caveat repeated by other police sources. That does not cancel out the hate-crime theory. A person can suffer from mental illness and still target victims based on religion or race. Both threads remain open, and investigators have not said one explanation rules out the other.

City Leaders React While Mayor Draws Criticism

New York’s political leaders moved quickly to condemn the attack as a likely act of antisemitic violence, with several officials publicly calling for hate-crime prosecution once the investigation concludes. Not every leader responded with the same urgency. Critics noted Mayor Zohran Mamdani was slow to comment on the stabbings, a delay that drew sharp pushback from residents and commentators watching how city hall handles rising concerns about targeted violence against Jewish New Yorkers.

Raul Morales, 51, was taken into custody after reportedly shouting "Allahu Akbar" & stabbing two people blocks apart on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
Both victims survived, and NYPD investigators are determining whether to charge the separate attacks as hate crimes. pic.twitter.com/7DBB3dJjnx

— John f Kennedy JR (@Amelia_Davilzc) July 24, 2026

The stabbings land amid a stretch of daylight violence in a city where residents already worry about public safety on ordinary streets. A knife-wielding attacker screaming a religious phrase while stabbing bystanders near Central Park is not a subtle event, and New Yorkers deserve straight answers about whether this was ideological violence, a mental-health crisis, or both. Prosecutors now carry the job of proving what a shouted phrase alone cannot settle.

For families in the neighborhood, the details matter less than the basic fact that two men were attacked without warning in the middle of the day. Whatever combination of motive and mental state investigators eventually document, the case underscores a real and growing fear among Jewish New Yorkers about being targeted in public. The investigation into Morales continues as prosecutors decide how to charge him.