Suspected gang member goes on stabbing spree in NYC, police sources say, leaving Columbia grad student dead, another victim injured

Police sources said a suspected gang member — who's been arrested numerous times and spent three years in prison — went on a stabbing spree Thursday night in New York City, leaving a Columbia University graduate student dead and another victim injured.

Who is the suspect?

Police sources said the suspect — 25-year-old Vincent Pinkney — has 16 prior arrests on his rap sheet and was out on parole, WCBS-TV reported.

Pinkney allegedly is with the Bloods gang offshoot EveryBody Killer, sources told the New York Post, which added that his arrests date back to 2012 and include robberies and assaults.

The Post added that he was convicted of gang assault in 2015 and served three years of a four-year prison sentence, citing state Department of Corrections records.

The paper said Pinkney was arrested for the Thursday night stabbings but has not yet been charged.

What are happened during the attacks?

The Post said the 15-minute stabbing spree began when 30-year-old Columbia grad student Davide Giri was knifed in the stomach in Morningside Park just before 11 p.m., citing police sources.

More from the paper:

Giri stumbled out of the park and collapsed near the corner of West 123rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue, where he was found by cops. He was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai-Saint Luke’s Hospital.

A second victim, a 27-year-old Italian tourist, was found with stab wounds to the torso at West 110th Street and Cathedral Parkway 15 minutes later.

Witnesses told cops the suspect had approached the male victim from behind and knifed him in the back before fleeing, sources said. The tourist was taken to the same hospital as Giri in a stable condition.

Then a third man told police a knife-wielding individual had just threatened him in nearby Central Park, the Post said, adding that this third victim — who wasn't injured — went with police and identified the suspect.

Police sources identified the second victim as Robert Malastina of Italy, who arrived in the city a few days ago, WCBS reported.

Giri, the first victim, was a computer science Ph.D. candidate, the Post said, citing Giri's website. The paper said he also hailed from Italy and published a separate profile on him:

WCBS said investigators believe the stabbings were unprovoked and the victims did not know each other, adding that no motive has been revealed.

Police also are investigating whether a stabbing attack in Morningside Park just 24 hours earlier is linked to the deadly attack Thursday night, sources told the Post.

The paper said that in the previous knife attack, just after midnight Wednesday, a man was stabbed and the suspect – who matches the description of Thursday night's attacker – fled the scene.

Father of suspect: Son not 'known to be violent at all'

The father of the suspect in Thursday night's deadly attack told the Post his son has “spent some time in jail” but also claimed he wasn’t “known to be violent at all.”

“I don’t really know if he’s involved in gang activity," the father added to the paper. "I really don’t know where he hangs out." The father also told the paper he hadn't seen his son since earlier Thursday.

'As unsafe as it has ever been'

A woman who lives across the street from where Giri was found told the Post that the neighborhood isn’t safe at night.

“I have lived here 25 years, and this is as unsafe as it has ever been,” Yolanda Ramos, 69, noted to the paper.