Man in custody for alleged stabbings, slashings at Penn Station

Possible charges filed against a man in custody for allegedly stabbing or slashing at least five people at Penn Station on Sunday night had not been released by late Monday.

The man had entered Penn Station just before the attack, at about 7:10 p.m. on Sunday in the New Jersey Transit concourse part of Penn, which also hosts Amtrak, the Long Island Rail Road and the New York City subway system. The five victims were brought to Bellevue hospital for treatment, according to Amtrak, which owns the station and whose police force handled the arrest. Amtrak did not name the man publicly; he was "taken into medical care following apprehension."

Joana Flores, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said Monday that service, which had been disrupted after the attacks, was back to normal, though access to the area around Penn was restricted starting late in the afternoon because President Donald Trump was planning to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden.

The NYPD and Long Island Rail Road, which is run by the MTA, referred inquiries to Amtrak.

Penn Station is one the country's busiest rail hubs.

The authorities did not immediately disclose what precipitated the attacks or how the accused stabber chose his victims. Amtrak did not immediately say what charges he could face.

Victim Henry Obadiah, 60, told Channel 7/ABC-TV that he had three stitches in his lip.

"So I’m coming back from the Jersey Shore and I’m heading outside to Penn Station and I’m heading out to the escalator," Obadiah told the station. "And before I got to the escalator, I go through the doors and I see two people tussling with each other."

He said he and the would-be stabber then looked at each other.

"The crazy guy locked eyes with me and then he just came at me with a roundhouse and got me," Obadiah said. "I thought it was a punch. He got me right in the face. The first thing I thought I was going to go after him and then I heard this guy in the escalator, he goes, 'He's got a knife, he's got a knife!'"

Steven Hadgkiss, 52, another victim, told the station that at the time of the stabbing he was going into work. Now, he needed six stitches to his neck.

"It felt to me like a punch to the neck, so I turned around and he was running away," he said. "... My shirt is covered in blood. So I immediately, you know, grabbed my neck, start squeezing."

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.