A tragic incident unfolded on a Saturday afternoon in the Bronx when a 33-year-old man was fatally stabbed during a brawl on a subway train. The victim, Nigel Dumas, got into a dispute with a 37-year-old career criminal named Shane Cunnison on a northbound 2 train near the 3rd Avenue-E. 149th Street subway station in the South Bronx. During the altercation, Cunnison stabbed Dumas in the chest with a knife, leading to Dumas being rushed to Lincoln Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Cunnison was apprehended at the subway station and charged with first-degree manslaughter. This was not his first brush with the law, as he has a history of nine previous arrests, including an attempted rape in Brooklyn in 2009. In that incident, Cunnison armed with a knife, broke into a woman’s home, assaulted her, and sexually assaulted her. In another incident in 2017, he brandished a knife during a verbal dispute in Brooklyn and pursued the victim for several blocks.
This tragic incident adds to a series of subway stabbings that have plagued New York City recently. Just days before this incident, a man was stabbed while waiting for a train on the platform at East 96th Street and Lexington Avenue. The assailant approached the victim, engaged in an argument, and then stabbed him in the neck with an unknown object. The victim was taken to a nearby hospital in stable condition.
In another incident, a man was slashed with a box cutter during a clash on a southbound No. 4 train at the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall Station. The victim was also taken to the hospital in stable condition, while the suspect remains at large.
The wave of violence continued with the tragic discovery of a 66-year-old grandmother, Claudette Jones, who was found stabbed to death inside her Brooklyn home. Jones, a nurse, had multiple stab wounds and her killer is still on the loose.
These incidents highlight the concerning rise in subway-related violence in New York City and the need for increased security measures to ensure the safety of passengers.