A suspect accused of slashing an 11-year-old girl in the head and punching a woman was chased down by an angry mob in New York City. However, officers with the NYPD protected the suspect from the horde seeking vigilante justice.
An 11-year-old girl was slashed near the East 116th Street subway station in East Harlem around 2:15 p.m. on Friday, according to police. The young girl was knifed in the back of the head and had her ear cut as she stood on a downtown platform holding her mother’s hand, sources told the New York Post. The outlet reported that the weapon used in the attack was a box cutter.
The suspect – who reportedly has a lengthy rap sheet – allegedly fled the crime scene by running into the subway station and boarding a train.
The mother of the stabbing victim reportedly chased after the alleged attacker, but he was able to run away.
An unnamed MTA employee told WPIX, “I saw a guy; he was trying to get off the train car, and he was near the third rail. I asked him what happened, and he said people were chasing him and trying to kill him, but people were yelling he stabbed someone. I grabbed him because I saw the police were running toward us, but he managed to escape.”
Moments before slashing the little girl, the suspect allegedly punched an unsuspecting 43-year-old woman around the street corner.
The victim’s mother, Gorzata Sladek, told the New York Post, “It was traumatizing. Terrible. It’s terrible to see a little girl with her head cut, sliced in half and it’s just terrible.”
A UPS worker added, “Her head [was] bloody. Bleeding can’t stop. [She was] bleeding in her hand and her shirt … she was crying. Scared.”
The young girl was treated by medics near a juice bar before being rushed to a local hospital. She underwent surgery that required multiple stitches and staples to fix the gash.
An angry mob was able to track down the suspect and corner him in the street about a block away where he had allegedly punched a woman.
Several NYPD officers needed to protect the suspect from the crowd demanding street justice. In the video, the mob is shouting, and one man pokes the suspect with a cane.
Multiple men had to be pulled away from trying to attack the suspect.
A man in the crowd is heard yelling, “You f***ing piece of s**t!”
Cops arrested 30-year-old Shaquan Cummings. He was charged with two counts of assault and acting in a manner injurious to a child.
The Post noted that Cummings has more than 20 prior arrests, including assault, criminal mischief, and fare evasion. His last arrest for assault allegedly happened two months ago.
Sladek said, “You should be able to walk on the street and not worry that somebody will attack you and attack, actually, my daughter not even attacking a dog, but a little kid.”
The distraught mother said her daughter is “not doing well emotionally.”
“She doesn’t want to go back to school. She doesn’t want to go outside anymore,” Sladek stated.