Over the past few years, New York City has seen a big drop in crime and homicides, but an incident that occurred this past weekend served as a reminder that anything can happen at any time in the city that never sleeps.
Yahoo is reporting that a man wielding a machete at Grand Central Station was shot by officers after the alleged slasher attacked straphangers at random. Interestingly enough, the suspect was once a battle rap legend known to his fellow rap peers as Fox 5.
According to the report, 44-year-old Anthony Griffin aka Fox 5, was shot and killed by police Saturday (April 11) after causing mayhem at the 42nd Street train station, which led to three elderly people suffering injuries at his blade.
When officers showed up to the ruckus being caused by Griffin, he reportedly referred to himself as “Lucifer” while police were attempting to get him to drop the machete. Instead, Griffin apparently went toward the police with his weapon extended and was ultimately shot and killed.
Per Yahoo:
Police said Griffin targeted his three victims at random. He entered the subway system at the Vernon Blvd. station in Queens around 9:30 a.m. Saturday and took the No. 7 train to Grand Central Station. Once he left the train, he pulled out a machete lunged at an 84-year-old man on the platform, slashing the man’s head and face.
Griffin then moved upstairs to the Nos. 4/5/6 platform, where he attacked a 65-year-old man and a 70-year-old woman, slashing the man’s face and causing an open skull fracture and chopping at the woman’s shoulder, police said.
No word on what led to Griffin taking such horrific actions as even his rap peers were bewildered at how his life came to such a tragic end.
Griffin’s long-time friend and rap music colleague Terrell Blair was also shocked by Griffin’s rampage.
“Nobody anticipated anything to that extent,” Blair said. “He has no track record of harming anyone, man. So it’s hard for us.”
“We’ve never seen that side of him,” Blair added. “I knew him since he was, you know, a child, and he’s always had a good heart despite whatever he was dealing with. He used music as a vehicle.”
While Griffin has no history of mental illness, some of his friends did suggest he seemed to develop some emotional and mental issues shortly after the passing of his mother five years ago.
What do y’all think about former battle rapper Fox 5 snapping in such a way? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
