 Good afternoon everybody. I'm Julian Phillips, Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. And I'd like to welcome you to One Police Plaza for this update on the ongoing homicide and assault investigation. Joining us today is the Honorable Mayor, Eric Adams, Police Commissioner Kishan Shul, First Deputy Commissioner Edward Caban. Commanding Officer of the Detective Bureau Citywide Investigations Division, Assistant Chief Joseph Joe Kenny. Department of Social Services Commissioner Gary Jenkins. Now after this briefing, we're going to be taking on topic questions only. The schedule is tight. We're not going to have room for a whole lot of questions. So just keep that in mind. We'll advise you for any other information you have as well as other topics after this is over. Now Honorable Mayor Adams. Thank you, good to see you, Julian. It's good to see you as part of your team here, all your knowledge and experience. I want to thank the Commissioner and her team for apprehending a dangerous person that assaulted on our vulnerable New Yorkers and really highlights how imperative it is to move people into safe spaces, into shelters, and eventually into permanent housing. But I also want to take the moment to commend a retired member of the Correction family. The Correction officer played a major role in the coordination with the police department in apprehending this dangerous person. It just really goes to show you that the men and women who provide public safety in the city, both on duty, off duty, and upon retirement continues to play a vital role in keeping our city safe. He went beyond the call of duty to ensure that this dangerous person was removed from our streets. Job well done by our uniform officers on the ground. Job well done by our detectives who gather the information that allowed us to put out the visuals that we had and job well done in bringing this dangerous person into apprehension. Now I'm going to turn it over to the Commissioner. Commissioner, you and your team did an amazing job. Good afternoon, and thank you once again for coming on behalf of the entire NYPD. I want to express our deepest sympathy for the three men senselessly stabbed on the street in separate attacks since June, July 5th, excuse me. One of those victims was tragically killed, but today we are here to announce that the swift work of your NYPD officers and your patrol officers in tandem with the public has led to an arrest in this series of crimes. This violence should not happen anywhere, but when it does happen, New Yorkers are fortunate to have the combined commitment of your police working with the people we serve. This partnership once again puts the focus where it always belongs, which is getting the justice for victims. I would also like to acknowledge the New York City Police Foundation and their support of the Crime Stoppers Tip Line, which is a vital resource in this and many other investigations. Early this morning in Upper Manhattan, 40 year old Trayvon Murphy was taken into custody. A good Samaritan spotted him, sitting at a bus stop near St. Nicholas Park. He was dressed in the same shirt and distinctive neon sneakers he was wearing in the photos and videos the NYPD publicly released just yesterday to all of you in the media. Again, thank you for amplifying that information. That good Samaritan then turned to the police and the NYPD did its job safely, securely and without incident. But once again, this is a story we have told many times before. This suspect should not have been on our streets. He was already convicted in Tennessee and given probation, which he violated. He was wanted on an outstanding warrant for that violation. Additionally, Mr. Murphy was released on his own recognizance after he attacked a roommate in Queens back in April. He was due back in court on July 22nd, just days from now. This man was preying on the vulnerable. And we are thankful for the combined effort to apprehend this subject quickly and safely. I will now ask Chief Kenny to brief you on the details of the apprehension. Good afternoon, everybody. To review the details of these three incidents, on Tuesday, July 5th, at approximately three o'clock in the morning, a 34-year-old male was stabbed in the abdomen while sleeping on a park bench on the Hudson River Park walkway in the vicinity of West Street and Christopher Street in the confines of the Sixth Precinct. He initially survived this attack, but later succumbed to his injuries. Then on Friday, July 8th, at approximately 10 p.m., a 59-year-old male who was also sleeping on a park bench was stabbed in the stomach near the corner of Madison Avenue and 49th Street, and this is in the confines of Midtown North Precinct. For two days, the victim tried to self-medicate and take care of his own wound. But finally, on Sunday, July 10th, he sought medical attention and reported the incident to the police. He was treated and is currently in stable condition. Then on Monday, July 11th, at approximately 3.30 a.m., a 28-year-old male was stabbed while lying on the ground inside the Stanley Isaac Playground, located at 9595 FDR Drive in the confines of the 23rd Precinct. He was taken to the hospital and is in currently in stable condition. From the time of the first incident on July 5th, investigators began retrieving and comparing video from these three crimes. And based on video review, detectives concluded that each of these assaults were committed by the same perpetrator. This determination was largely based on the clothing description of the suspect, namely the following three items. Neon sneakers worn in all three incidents, a gray backpack also worn in all three incidents, and a black hoodie with white writing on the front that said Innocence Project, which was worn by the suspect in two of the three attacks. Over the past week, investigators continued the video canvas in and around these incident locations. And yesterday, July 12th, new video was recovered showing clearer images of the attack that occurred in Midtown North on July 8th. These new images, along with a number of other investigative steps, led to the identification of the suspect. That suspect was Trayvon Murphy, a 40-year-old male who he himself is homeless and was residing in local shelters. Photographs and video of the suspect were released to the public over the past few days, which proved to be invaluable as the investigation moved forward. Because early this morning, July 13th, at approximately 642 AM, a member of the community who was in the vicinity of West 128 Street and St. Nicholas Avenue in the other park called 911 to report a possible sighting of the man wanted in connection with these stabbing attacks. At the same time, this community member saw two uniform members of the NYPD standing on the corner. He approached them, pointed the subject out to them, and he was taking it to custody without incident. He was wearing the neon sneakers, the gray backpack, and the black innocent project hoodie. The officers then took the suspect to the 28th precinct where he's currently being processed. I will remind you this is still an active investigation, but we can confirm that the suspect was in possession of a knife in his left pants pocket at the time he was taking it to custody. And he has also made statements to investigators identifying himself in still images related to the attacks. I want to thank the best detectives in the world for their work on this case. I'd also like to thank the members of the public who stepped up to aid us in this investigation. I'd also like to thank the media, you guys, for pushing out the images that helped us with this investigation. And I'd like to thank the Department of Social Services for their assistance over the past week. Thank you. I'm going to bring up Gary Jenkins, Commissioner of HRA. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good afternoon. I would first like to thank the brave members of the NYPD who work diligently to apprehend this suspect who has been terrorizing unsheltered New Yorkers for the past two weeks. I'd also like to thank the DHS outreach teams who have been working around the clock to get our unsheltered New Yorkers inside during NYPD's city-wide search for this suspect. Far too long, folks living on the street have been the subject to extreme violence simply because they are experiencing homelessness. Let me be clear, every New Yorker, regardless of housing status, deserves to feel safe in our great city. I look forward to working with Commissioner Sewell and her outstanding staff to work together to protect our city's most vulnerable. And once again, we'd like to thank them for their great work in protecting our unsheltered New Yorkers. Thank you. Any questions? Any questions? Demo is there in New York. Any invitation to suspect new victims as you turn those? That's part of the investigation. Demo near folks. Can I make any statements? I'll turn to Chief Kenny. For any indication at all. As of right now, we're still working out what the motive is. He's currently being interrogated. He did wave Miranda, and he is speaking to us. So hopefully as we go down in the investigation, we'll be able to get more information on that. Is there any indication why he picked these three individuals or was he seen in those areas? You mentioned shelters, but did he have any connectivity to those three? Our investigation is revealing that he is familiar with the New York City shelter system. He has had numerous encounters in other shelters and other boroughs. As far as selecting the victims, we're still looking at that. He himself is homeless, but the commonality is that all three victims were homeless and all three victims were sleeping at the time of their attack. Rocko. Chief, can you tell us about his Tennessee conviction and his assault arrest? The Tennessee conviction, which he's currently on probation for, was a narcotics charge. He has an active warrant, which Tennessee will extradite for. For that, as far as his incident, it was in the confines at a 115 precinct. He was in a homeless shelter. He assaulted a roommate, who coincidentally was also asleep at the time of the attack. No. John Glover. Chief, do you think that is the weapon used in three stabbings? Yes. Let me see the S radio. Any indication about his psychological status and mental health well-being? And a larger question for the mayor. We've seen two strains of the tax against homeless people in the past few months. What does that say about where our society is as it treats the homeless people? The city is extremely humane and our initiatives have been clear. The streets are not dignified places for people who are homeless to live. And that's why we have been extremely aggressive in placing them in safe environments. We just want to thank the coordination of HRA, the NYPD, and our non-profits. And we were able to remove 1,700 individuals who are living in our subway system in an unsafe environment that are now in shelters, safe havens, and on a pathway to permanent housing and the wraparound services they deserve. So I don't think this dangerous person is a reflection of New York. Sometime we look at the roast among us and define it as our city. The average New Yorker gives the homeless a helping hand. They do not use their hands to assault them. And that's the statement from New York City. Thank you everybody. Thank you. Thank you. Good job. We've got to see you over there.