The Museum of Modern Art in New York City was evacuated on Saturday after police said two people were injured during a stabbing.
The New York City Police Department told The Daily Beast two people suffered non-life-threatening injures during the incident that occurred around 4 p.m. They were taken to a local hospital where they were in stable condition. Scores of museum-goers were also forced to evacuate the midtown Manhattan museum onto the snowy streets, and police asked all residents to avoid the area.
In a briefing, an NYPD official confirmed that authorities were looking for a white male suspect wearing a black jacket and blue surgical mask who was a former member of the museum. Investigators reported that the suspect came to the museum Saturday to view a film being played but was denied entry because his membership had been revoked via a letter sent the day before. He became upset and jumped over the reception desk and stabbed two employees in the back, collarbone, and back of the neck.
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The spokesman confirmed that the suspect is known to the police department because of “prior incidents,” including one that occurred at MoMA. The suspect, whose photo the NYPD released late Saturday, is also said to be known to museum employees because he regularly visited as a member.
A press secretary for Eric Adams said Saturday that the New York City mayor had been briefed on the MoMa incident and said it “appears to be an isolated, criminal incident. ”
“Neither victim is suffering from life-threatening injuries at this time,” the spokesperson added. “The mayor will continue to monitor the situation and the progress of the two victims.”
Weston Pagano, a music supervisor who was inside MoMA but quickly evacuated after getting a tip from a friend who was on a lower floor, told The Daily Beast he saw two women being carried out of the museum on stretchers.
“The two women were conscious, which was a relief to see,” Pagano told The Daily Beast. “One had visible blood on her left side and shouted something as she was being loaded in, but I couldn’t make out what it was.”
Tina Rook, who was at MoMA on Saturday, told The Daily Beast that she “didn’t see it happen,” but patrons were told they had to evacuate from the museum immediately. “We only heard there was a stabbing and got evacuated,” Rook said.
Ana Alves, a Brazilian newspaper reporter and a visiting scholar at Columbia University, told The Daily Beast she was on the fourth floor of the museum “looking at Matisse’s ‘Swimming Pool’ with a couple when the lights blinked a little.”
“All of a sudden a security guard appeared urging us to evacuate,” Alves said, noting that at first she thought it was a false alarm, or maybe a power outage. She said it took about two minutes to get down to the ground floor to leave the museum, using a combination of stairs and escalators.
“I only realized it was serious when I got to the lower floor and saw museum staff crying,” Alves said, noting that police were outside the building when she exited. She said she learned that the emergency situation was a stabbing later, when a friend texted her the news.
“It’s scary,” she added. “We always assume museums are safe. I guess metal detectors will be a necessary inconvenience once again.”
