NYPD: Bizarre string of attacks leaves man dead

NEW YORK -- A man suspected of slashing a woman in the face, fatally stabbing a store owner and setting a homeless man on fire has been shot and wounded by police in New York City, authorities said.

The string of violent incidents left the neighborhood of Astoria in the borough of Queens in a state of shock, CBS New York reported.

"This has been a very unusual day here in Astoria," NYPD Queens North Assistant Chief Diane Pazzouti said late Sunday.

The attacks began at about 11:30 a.m. Sunday when a 39-year-old woman was slashed in the face. She was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Three hours later, a 55-year-old liquor store owner was stabbed to death, and a 61-year-old homeless man was set afire and critically injured. A small arson fire was also set in the liquor store, police said.

At about 5:30 p.m., police said they received a report of a burglary in progress. Police converged on the scene and two officers caught up to a suspect in the backyard of a home.

The suspect, identified as James Patrick Dillon, 23, had a knife and a beer bottle containing a flammable liquid, police said.

The officers ordered him to drop the knife, but he sprayed the unknown chemical onto the officers, police said, adding that the officers then fired at Dillon, wounding him.

Both officers suffered burns and were in stable condition. Dillon was hospitalized and hadn't been charged. It wasn't clear if Dillon had a lawyer.

At a news conference, police said Dillon had been treated for psychological problems in the past and that family members said he had not been taking his medication recently.

A regular customer at the liquor store told CBS New York he spoke to the owner, George Patouhas, on Saturday night.

"He told me there was people bothering him," said Frank O'Connor. "And one guy's leaving town, and this other guy was bothering him."

Neighbors said Patouhas would go out of his way to help anyone, and may have been protecting a friend named Julio from the attacker.

"He would defend someone -- that's George," said a man named Sam, who lives in the building.

Doreen Nasr told CBS New York she has known Dillon, whose nickname in the neighborhood was "Soda Pop," since he was a child.

"He threatened me," Nasr said. "He said, 'If you talk to my parents I'll kill you.'"

Nasr said Dillon was always troubled and once attacked her son.

"When he punched my son and knocked him on the floor right in front of me, right here in the living room, that was the last straw -- do not come back," Nasr said, "and I told my son to stay away from him. There's going to be trouble because he acted crazy."