NEW YORK — A Ukranian-born graffiti artist armed with five knives went on a 28-hour rampage across New York City, slashing to death his stepfather, ex-girlfriend and her mother, running down a pedestrian in a stolen Lexus and knifing a subway passenger before being arrested in Times Square, police said.
Maksim Gelman, 23, was armed with a bloodied kitchen knife when he was taken into police custody about 9 a.m. Saturday after a night-long manhunt across New York City.
“It’s so horrendous and bizarre. We have no reason to know why he did this,” said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who held up a photo of the knife that he said Gelman had used to slash the subway rider on the head and neck. The man survived and was in stable condition Saturday.
The stabbing spree started just after 5 a.m. Friday, when police say Gelman fatally knifed his stepfather, Aleksandr Kuznetsov, at their apartment. Gelman had gotten into a fight with his mother, and Kuznetsov intervened and was attacked, Kelly said. Kelly described Gelman as a drug user with 10 previous arrests — mostly linked to graffiti and drugs.
Kelly said the suspect’s statements to police were “pretty incoherent” — including one in which he stated that “she had to die.” He said he wasn’t sure whether that was a reference to the ex-girlfriend or someone else.
