Two teenage girls were stabbed by a man while ranting that he wants "all white people dead" at a New York restaurant on Christmas. The girls from South America were with their family at the Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan when the incident occurred on Monday.
The girls - 14 and 16-year-olds - suffered non-life-threatening wounds from the stabbing, the New York Post reported quoting police and sources.
Police sources said Steven Hutcherson, the 36-year-old suspect, allegedly also yelled, "I want to sit next to the crackers."
The staff members told the NY Post that Hutcherson arrived at the restaurant and said he wanted a table but wouldn't order anything. On being refused, he got agitated and reportedly pointed to the family that they weren't eating anything either. Next, he grabbed a knife and attacked the girls, the employees at the restaurant said.
Hutcherson has a history of mental health concerns and has been arrested in the past as well, the report said.
"Everyone was just running," a veteran Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) employee, a witness to the incident, said on Tuesday, calling the scene "chaotic."
The wounded girls were taken to the Bellevue Hospital for treatment. They were later released and their hotel staff said they were doing okay.
Hutcherson had been arrested 17 times prior to the Monday stabbing, sources said, adding that he has been classified as an "emotionally disturbed person" in previous brushes with the police.
He was arrested last on November 7 for allegedly threatening to "shoot" a stranger in The Bronx.
"I'm gonna shoot you. I don't care what kind of green card the government gave you," he said, according to the criminal complaint against him.