Police said both victims were in their 70s and a person of interest was taken into custody after the late-night attack in Crown Heights.
CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn, N.Y. — A 74-year-old woman was killed and a 72-year-old woman was injured after a stabbing inside a Crown Heights apartment building late Saturday, police said, as investigators worked Sunday to piece together what led to the violence.
The attack happened around 10:30 p.m. at the Ebbets Field apartments on Bedford Avenue, according to police and local television reports. Officers responding to the building found two women with multiple stab wounds. One victim later died at Kings County Hospital, while the other was listed in stable condition. A person of interest was taken into custody at the scene, but authorities had not announced charges as of Sunday night. The dead woman’s name was being withheld while relatives were notified.
Police said the older victim, 74, had stab wounds to her head and arms. The surviving victim, 72, suffered wounds to her back and arm. Neighbors told local stations the violence appeared to erupt after a loud dispute in or near the apartment. Several residents said they heard shouting in the hallway before police arrived, then heard officers trying to get someone inside the apartment to open the door.
Diana Harris, who lives across from the apartment, said the noise was impossible to ignore. “The walls were shaking,” Harris said, describing pounding on the door before officers forced their way inside. Another neighbor, Anissa Christian, said she later heard officers urgently calling for help for one of the women. Christian recalled hearing that the victim was going into cardiac arrest and needed CPR once she was brought out of the apartment.
Authorities have not publicly described the weapon in formal detail, but neighbors told reporters they heard officers say scissors had been used. Police had not confirmed that publicly by Sunday night, and investigators had not released a detailed account of what happened inside the apartment. It also was not immediately clear whether the women lived there together, whether others were present when the attack began, or what relationship the person of interest had to the victims.
What is clear is that the emergency response unfolded in a tightly packed residential setting where many people heard at least part of the chaos. Residents told reporters that multiple people were believed to be living in the apartment. One neighbor said the victims lived on the 13th floor. Another said tensions had seemed high when people came up in the elevator shortly before the stabbing, though police had not independently confirmed that account.
The case quickly became the latest deadly act of violence to rattle a Brooklyn neighborhood already on edge over safety inside large apartment complexes. Crown Heights is one of the city’s busiest residential sections, and Ebbets Field is a well-known housing site with hundreds of apartments and constant foot traffic. A killing inside that setting can leave residents fearful not only because of the loss of life, but because it happened in a place meant to feel routine and familiar.
That sense of shock came through in neighbors’ comments Sunday. Christian said she could not understand how someone could attack elderly women in their own building. Harris said she was stunned by what unfolded just across the hall. Another resident, who gave only the name Mary to one outlet, called the stabbings “horrible” and said the building had already been unsettled by another violent episode in the lobby days earlier. Police did not immediately comment on that separate claim.
Investigators now face several unanswered questions that will likely shape the case: what triggered the confrontation, whether the attack followed a long-running dispute, and whether prosecutors will pursue homicide and assault charges against the person in custody. Detectives also still must sort through witness statements, physical evidence from the apartment, and any surveillance footage from the building.
In New York City, cases like this often move first through a preliminary police investigation before the district attorney’s office decides what charges can be supported. That means a person may be detained or questioned while detectives continue gathering evidence, interviewing witnesses and awaiting forensic results. Until charges are filed, police often release only limited information, especially when a victim’s name has not yet been made public.
The death of the 74-year-old woman left relatives and neighbors searching for answers less than a day after the attack. Her brother was seen at the building trying to learn what had happened, according to local reporting. For the surviving woman, the next stage will be medical recovery while detectives determine whether she can provide a fuller account of the moments before the stabbing.
The investigation remained active Sunday night, with police saying only that one woman was dead, another was expected to survive and a person of interest was in custody. The next major step is likely a decision on charges after detectives complete more interviews and evidence review.
Author note: Last updated March 23, 2026.