New York City police released a video showing a man, identified as Gary Cabana, 60, entering the museum lobby via a revolving doors. He then climbs onto the desk and jumps over it while a man with what appears to be an e-walker tries unsuccessfully to stop him.
Police are still looking for Cabana on Sunday morning.
A man wearing a black wool hat with a surgical mask approaches three employees trapped in the small space. He stabs one of the women, but she manages to escape seconds later.
After stabbing the second employee, the man with the walkie talkie hurls a book at him. A third employee is seen getting up after the attacker flees.
Officials said that two museum employees, a 24-year old man and a 24-year old woman, were stable with non-life-threatening injuries.
Police say Cabana was refused entry Saturday because of previous disorderly conduct incidents. John Miller, NYPD deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism, stated that his membership was revoked after two incidents of disorderly conduct at the museum in recent times.
Cabana received a letter on Friday informing him of his expired membership. However, he showed up at the museum Saturday to say he wanted to see a movie there, according to police.
Miller stated that he became angry and stabbed the employees of the museum in the neck, collarbone, and back. They were quickly rushed to the hospital.
Miller stated Saturday that video showed the direction the suspect took after leaving the museum. Cabana was captured by police late Saturday night and shared with the police asking for help in finding him.
The man has never been arrested before.
Although the museum did not immediately respond to an email request for comment, it stated on social media that the museum would be closed to the public on Sunday.
Saturday afternoon saw the midtown Manhattan museum evacuate its patrons. Yuichi Shimada was a museumgoer who was present at the time. He tweeted that he was on second floor when two men suddenly ran toward him and that he heard the security guards announce something loudly throughout the museum.
Shimada stated, “It was chaotic partly because it snowed, with a bunch of young women in panic and crying.” “I was not good at claustrophobia so I ran for the exit.”
Shimada was stopped at the side as he was leaving. A stretcher was quickly brought in. As dozens of people ran away, ambulances and police vehicles rushed to the museum, flashing emergency lights.
Eric Adams, Mayor of Toronto, tweeted Saturday night that he had been briefed about the attack and that the injuries sustained by the victims were not life-threatening.
Adams, an ex-captain of the NYPD, stated that “we’re grateful for their quick work on our first responders.”
MoMA was founded in 1929 and is one of New York City’s most popular tourist attractions. In 2020, it drew over 700,000. The museum’s collection includes works by Henri Matisse, Paul Gauguin, and “The Starry Night” from Vincent Van Gogh.
