Additional Coverage:
Newly released body camera footage reveals the intense moments leading up to an NYPD officer shooting a machete-wielding man who stabbed several people at Grand Central Station.
The NYPD shared the video on its official YouTube channel Friday, showing Detectives Ryan Giuffre and Anthony Manetta confronting 44-year-old Anthony Griffin shortly after he attacked three individuals on the subway platforms at 42nd Street-Grand Central. The incident occurred just before 9:40 a.m. on Saturday, April 11.
The victims-a 65-year-old man, a 70-year-old woman, and an 85-year-old man-sustained non-life-threatening injuries and were promptly taken to the hospital. The attack caused significant disruptions to train service at the busy transit hub.
In the footage, the detectives can be seen ordering Griffin multiple times to drop the approximately 17-inch machete as he ascends a stairwell. Despite the repeated commands, Griffin holds the weapon high and moves erratically toward the officers. The tense confrontation continues as he retreats down the stairs and then advances toward the officers on the subway platform, brandishing the blade above his head.
Throughout the more than one-minute video, the officers urge Griffin to surrender peacefully. Detective Giuffre tells him, “Nobody wants to hurt you…
Get down. I’m not going to ask you again.”
Griffin responds with disturbing statements including, “I don’t want to be here. Shoot me,” and “I am Lucifer,” while refusing to comply.
When Griffin persists in approaching the officers with the raised machete, Giuffre fires two shots. Griffin immediately collapses and is rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where he later died.
The detectives, who were working overtime on transit security, were treated for tinnitus following the shooting.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed the incident, expressing gratitude to the NYPD for their response. “Officers shot the man when he did not drop the machete. He has since been pronounced dead,” Mamdani said.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch noted that officers issued more than 20 commands for Griffin to drop the weapon. “Our officers were confronted with an armed individual who had already injured multiple people and was continuing to pose a threat,” she said. “They attempted to de-escalate, and when that threat did not stop, they took decisive action to protect New Yorkers on one of the busiest train platforms in the city.”
The investigation into the shooting remains ongoing.