Three people were wounded Sunday afternoon at the Van Dyke Houses in Brooklyn, and all are expected to survive.
NEW YORK — Police were searching Sunday for a suspect in a triple stabbing at the Van Dyke Houses in Brownsville, where officers found two women and one man wounded after a 911 call just after 1 p.m.
The attack unfolded in broad daylight at the public housing complex on Dumont Avenue between Mother Gaston Boulevard and Powell Street, according to police. The victims, ages 23, 25 and 26, were taken to nearby hospitals, and investigators said all three were expected to survive. By Sunday evening, the NYPD had not announced an arrest, released a suspect description or said what led to the violence.
Police said officers responded quickly after the emergency call and found the three victims at the scene. Investigators said a 25-year-old woman had been stabbed in the lower abdomen, a 26-year-old woman had been stabbed multiple times in the buttocks and back, and a 23-year-old man had been stabbed in the chest. Emergency crews took all three to hospitals for treatment. The violence happened at the Van Dyke Houses, a large NYCHA development in Brownsville, and police tape was stretched across the entryway of a building on Dumont Avenue as detectives and officers moved through the scene.
Authorities said they were trying to determine whether the suspect knew the victims, a question that could shape the direction of the case. Police did not say whether the stabbing happened inside a building, in a hallway or just outside, and they did not publicly describe the weapon beyond saying the victims suffered stab wounds. They also did not say whether the three victims were attacked at the same time or during a dispute that escalated. The lack of a public description left neighbors with few details as officers continued the search. By Sunday night, police had not said whether surveillance video had been recovered or whether any witnesses had given detectives a clear account of the suspect’s movements before or after the attack.
The location added to the weight of the incident. Van Dyke Houses is one of Brownsville’s larger public housing campuses, a development that city records say includes more than 1,700 apartments. A NYCHA planning document describes the complex as part of a neighborhood long shaped by concerns about security, lighting and safety around buildings and open spaces. Brownsville falls within the NYPD’s 73rd Precinct, which covers Brownsville and Ocean Hill. In the precinct’s most recent CompStat report available before the stabbing, felony assault complaints for the year were running near the prior year’s pace, a reminder that serious violence remains a central public safety issue in the area even as some crime categories move up or down from week to week.
As of Sunday evening, the case remained at the investigative stage. Police had not named a suspect, and no charges had been filed. Detectives were still working to establish the connection, if any, among the three victims and the person who stabbed them. Until an arrest is made, the case is likely to hinge on physical evidence, witness accounts and any video or phone records investigators can obtain. Police also had not said whether any of the victims had been interviewed in detail after arriving at the hospital. The next formal step in the case will come when police either identify a suspect publicly, make an arrest or file criminal charges in court.
Neighbors said the timing of the attack made it especially jarring. One woman at the scene said the stabbing left her planning to be “a little more cautious” because it happened in the middle of the day. Another woman described the violence in blunt terms, saying, “This is what goes down here. It’s crazy.” The comments captured the unease that settled over the complex as officers secured the area and residents tried to make sense of what had happened. The scene was not one of confusion alone; it was also one of waiting, with residents watching for updates while police continued to piece together the basic facts of the attack.
By late Sunday, all three victims were expected to survive, but the suspect remained at large and key questions about motive and relationships had not been answered.
Author note: Last updated March 30, 2026.