Police said both the injured workers were 24 years old. Two women were stabbed in the lower back and two in the back of the neck. Officials said the other man was once stabbed in the left collar bone.
Police said at a news conference Saturday evening that both were taken to Bellevue Hospital and were expected to survive.
Police on Sunday identified the suspect as 60-year-old Gary Cabana, a regular visitor to MoMA.
The authorities initially described him as Wearing a black jacket and surgical mask.
According to NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller, that detail was immediately issued to division radio units in the area and police reacted to the scene and launched a search.
He was caught on video leaving the museum, so the police knew in which direction he had gone.
The cabana is known to the NYPD, Miller said, and is wanted by the department in connection with two incidents in midtown Manhattan, where the museum is located, prior to Saturday’s double stabbing.
Suspect agitated over refusal to enter
Police said Cabana entered the museum with the intention of watching a movie.
“At about 4:15 this afternoon, a man entered the museum, presented his membership card, attempted to gain entry and was denied entry because his membership had expired,” Miller said. “His membership was terminated in the recent past as a result of two incidents involving disorderly conduct at the museum here on two separate dates,” he said.
Police said the suspect got angry after being denied entry to the museum and jumped on the reception desk and attacked two employees.
There was adequate security in the area at the time of the incident, but Miller described it as a “spontaneous incident of rapid unfolding”.
In panic, patrons evacuated the museum
In the video shared on social media, dozens of people are seen leaving the museum in huge crowd.
“We weren’t told what was going on, they just had to call off the demonstrations immediately,” MoMA patron Tina Rook told CNN. “One woman said it was an emergency,” Rook said, adding that the whole incident was handled very well by the police and museum officials.
“It looked like everyone was ordered to evacuate, and the other guests came out one after the other,” Shimada tweeted.
Shimada said, “It was chaotic, partly because of the snowfall, with a group of young women in panic and crying, and partly because people were taking pictures on their cell phones and also playing live on their phones.” Were.”
MoMA temporarily closed, screening suspended