By Stephen Stirling
An elderly Flushing couple were clinging to life Tuesday after a man went on a bloody rampage with a kitchen knife in broad daylight Tuesday morning on Northern Boulevard, the Queens District Attorney said.
DA Richard Brown said 41−year−old David Williams of 147−25 Northern Blvd. was ordered to be held without bail after being charged with two counts of attempted murder and three counts of assault for allegedly stabbing three people and punching a fourth in the face.
After Williams arraignment, Brown called the attacks “senseless and deliberate.”
“The routine of a Tuesday morning was thrown into chaos by this frightening and unprovoked attack allegedly carried out by the defendant,” Brown said.
Shortly before noon Tuesday, medical gloves, a New York Yankees cap and various articles of clothing littered the blood−stained ground outside an apartment building at 147−15 Northern Blvd. as investigators canvassed the area. Just a few hours earlier, at about 9:30 a.m., police said Williams allegedly stabbed 78−year−old John Purcell, his 71−year−old wife Joan and 41−year−old Juhn Fook repeatedly with a large serrated knife before assaulting another man and eventually scuffling with police officers near the location.
Both John and Joan Purcell were listed in critical condition at Flushing Hospital after suffering life−threatening stab wounds to their torsos, according to the DA. Brown said John Purcell had a punctured spleen while his wife had a lacerated liver and severe gashes to her arm and chest.
Fook suffered a punctured lung in the attack, and was listed in serious condition Tuesday at Flushing Hospital, according to the DA.
Williams faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted, the DA said.
Police said they responded to the scene and found 38−year−old Deraj Meraj, who said the suspect had punched him in the face before fleeing the scene.
A short time later, police said they saw Williams holding a knife near the location and ordered him to drop his weapon, to which he complied. As police officers attempted to apprehend him, authorities said Williams began flailing and fighting with the officers, but was eventually taken into custody.
It was only after Williams was arrested that police were alerted to the stabbing victims, authorities said. Police believe Williams ducked into 147−15 Northern Blvd. after attacking Meraj, where he confronted the Purcells and Fook as police began to search the area.
The attack marked the second stabbing incident to occur in the area in less than a week.
The DA said Shon Long Wong was awaiting arraignment on charges of stabbing Flushing residents Kum Seon Ko and Wen Ma in the chest several times with a knife after the three people had stepped off a bus from Atlantic City at 40th Road and Prince Street Saturday evening.
Police said Wong, who has no listed address, allegedly stabbed Ko several times in the chest and back before stabbing Ma once in the chest shortly before 7:40 p.m.
Ko was listed in serious but stable condition at New York Hospital Queens after receiving several stitches and suffering a punctured lung in the attack, the DA said. Ma was in stable condition at New York Hospital Queens after receiving several stitches to his chest, the DA said.
Reach reporter Stephen Stirling by e−mail at sstirling@timesledger.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 138.
