NEW YORK (WCBS 880) -- The man allegedly responsible for stabbing two people, killing one, in Upper Manhattan Thursday has been charged murder, police announced late Friday.
Police officially announced that Vincent Pinkney, 25, of Manhattan, has been charged with murder, attempted murder, assault, attempted assault and three counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
Police said Pinkney is behind the two random stabbings that killed Davide Giri, a 30-year-old Columbia University graduate student, and injured a 27-year-old Italian tourist.
Pinkney is a known gang member and parolee who served five years in prison for a gang assault in 2013, police said. Video from outside an NYPD precinct shows Pinkney being led away, and when asked if he had anything to say, he responded “yes,” but then stood still for several seconds and said nothing more.
Giri was fatally stabbed in the stomach inside Morningside Park at 123rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue just before 11 p.m. Thursday, while the other victim was stabbed in the torso at 110th Street and Morningside Drive about 15 minutes later. The 27-year-old is expected to be OK.
Giri was a PhD candidate in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and a former teaching assistant trained in classical piano. He was also a competitive soccer player, according to his personal website.
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Giri, an Italian citizen, previously studied at universities in Turin, Italy, and Chicago. He was on track to graduate in May.
Columbia University held a vigil Friday evening on Butler Lawn to honor Giri, where dozens of students and faculty held candles and closed their eyes to pray for the victim.
"We so deeply feel the pain and the injustice of that life promise breached in an act of barbarous violence," Columbia University President Lee Bollinger said.
Just minutes after the attacks, a 30-year-old man flagged down police and said he was menaced inside Central Park, according to authorities. Responding officers canvassed the area and came across a man fitting the description, and arrest Pinkney.
None of the victims knew each other or the suspect, police said. The attacks appear to have been random.