NYPD: 2 people stabbed inside Museum of Modern Art
NEW YORK -- Police are searching for the suspect who stabbed two employees at the Museum of Modern Art on Saturday afternoon.
As CBS2's Thalia Perez reported, the suspect, identified as 60-year-old Gary Cabana, is known to police and they say he's on the loose after being seen on surveillance video exiting the museum.
The incident happened during one of the museum's busiest times. Perez spoke to patrons who said a chaotic scene unfolded.
A leisurely afternoon at the Museum of Modern Art quickly took a scary turn for Dee Daily as he exited the museum's gift shop just after 4 p.m.
"We just saw commotion. People running down the escalators, down the stairs, and they rushed us to the back. The employees rushed us into the back, into a safe room," Daily said.
He shared with CBS2 a video and said he was among about 50 people who museum security rushed into that safe room.
"It was nerve wracking, really. I was trying to keep myself calm for my daughter. You gotta think rationally in those situations," Daily said.
The reception desk is where police say Cabana, known to the employees because he's a regular visitor, became irate after he was denied entrance because his membership had expired.
"He became upset about not being allowed entrance and then jumped over the reception desk and proceeded to attack and stab two employees of the museum multiple times," said John Miller, the NYPD's deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism.
Police said the suspect is known to the department because of prior incidents, including one at the Museum of Modern Art. On Saturday, it was immediately shut down and visitors with ticketed entry outside were turned away.
"At the museum it's not something you'd really expect, especially because everyone has to be vetted with like a vaccine card, and you have to buy a ticket," one person said.
"In the middle of a museum, in the middle of the day, it's kind of crazy," another person said.
Police said victims, a man and a woman, were rushed to Bellevue Hospital and are in stable condition.
The Museum of Modern Art and its stores will be closed to the public on Sunday. It says for help getting a refund or rescheduling tickets, please visit its website.
