On Monday, news of a “Hammer Man” wanted for attacking two women in the Union Square and Herald Square areas of New York City was shot earlier today by police in Midtown Manhattan.
When he was first caught, two officers tried to approach the suspect, which is when he pulled out what appeared to be a hammer and allegedly aimed for the female police officer. Her partner then shot at the suspect 4 times, hitting him twice. The man is at a hospital in critical but stable condition. The officers were responding to an unrelated assault when they noticed the suspect and approached him.
On Tuesday, a photo of the suspect was released by NYPD. The first assault happened on West 35th Street near 6th Avenue, which is where the suspect attacked a man without warning or provocation at about 1:45 p.m. The second incident happened at about 7:30 p.m. inside Union Square Park at Union Square West and 17th Street, the hammer-wielding man struck a 28-year-old woman, who was sitting on a bench, in the head, police said. 10 minutes later, the man hit another woman in the back of the head near 45 West 17th Street.
Both the police officer and the injured suspect were taken to Lenox Hospital where police announced that their injuries were not life threatening but they did sustain some bruises during the attack.
-Bri Christian (@brirezy)
