A TikToker has revealed a frightening encounter on the New York City subway, sharing the chilling details of a violent altercation involving a knife that left him and fellow passengers scrambling for their lives. 

In a gripping TikTok video posted on New Years Day, Chris Olsen, who has 13 million followers recounted what he believed to be the life-threatening ordeal that unfolded as he and his friend, Caroline Haroldson, rode the train through the city.

‘We just basically witnessed a stabbing and almost died on the subway ourselves,’ Olsen began, his voice trembling as he relived the traumatic experience.

The terrifying episode began like any other subway ride for Olsen, a seasoned New Yorker. 

Unfazed by the loud exchange of shouts between two passengers, Olsen initially brushed it off as another typical subway squabble. 

However, Haroldson, visiting from out of town, quickly realized the situation was far more sinister when she spotted one of the passengers brandishing a knife.

‘Most people have their headphones in, so they aren’t really listening to what’s going on, but Cara and I are listening to the whole thing,’ Olsen said. 

‘I was still making jokes, not realizing how serious it was until one of them charged at the other.’

TikToker Chris Olsen has revealed a frightening encounter on the New York City subway, sharing the chilling details of a violent altercation involving a knife that left him and fellow passengers scrambling for their lives

In New York, personal safety in the subway is generally comparable to safety in the city as a whole, but life-threatening crimes such as stabbings and shoves spread alarm about the trains

As chaos erupted, the train car descended into panic. Passengers bolted toward the side door of the car, where Olsen and Haroldson were seated. 

Thinking fast, Olsen sprang into action, ‘ripping open’ the door between the cars to allow terrified passengers to escape. 

But their relief was short-lived when the adjoining car’s door was found to be locked.

‘We get pushed all the way to the front of that next car, but the door in front of that is completely locked,’ Olsen recalled.

‘All we can hear behind us is people screaming. We don’t know if someone has brought out a gun. We don’t know who else has been stabbed.’

The uncertainty added to the chaos as passengers desperately clawed at the door, in an attempt to escape. 

Someone eventually pulled the emergency brake, halting the train, while passengers could be heard screaming in terror. 

Amidst the pandemonium, one brave passenger tried to calm the crowd, urging them to stop screaming to reduce the panic among fellow travelers.  

Olsen, right, and his friend Caroline Haroldson, overwhelmed by the ordeal, broke down in tears upon reaching the safety of the station platform

The unnerving event comes amidst a wave of violent incidents on the New York City subway system

Finally, the conductor arrived with a key to unlock the door, allowing the passengers to flee the train. 

Olsen and Haroldson, overwhelmed by the ordeal, broke down in tears upon reaching the safety of the station platform.

‘The subway — please stay safe,’ Olsen pleaded with his followers in his TikTok video. ‘There’s been too much that’s been happening on there.’

The unnerving event comes amidst a wave of violent incidents on the New York City subway system. 

Just weeks earlier, a woman was tragically burned to death while riding a train, and a man narrowly survived being pushed in front of an oncoming train by a stranger. 

On the same day as Olsen’s encounter, two separate stabbings were reported in Manhattan, though neither seemed to align with Olsen’s timing.

In New York, personal safety in the subway is generally comparable to safety in the city as a whole, but life-threatening crimes such as stabbings and shoves spread alarm about the trains, which carried more than 1 billion riders in 2024.

Police figures show major crimes on subways were down through November compared with the same period last year, but killings rose from five to nine. 

The NYPD told DailyMail.com that they recorded 24 incidents of people being pushed onto subway tracks in 2024 – a 41 percent increase on last year’s total of 17. 

On Christmas Eve, two people were injured in Manhattan’s Grand Central Terminal after a maniac went on a stabbing rampage. 

Sources told DailyMail.com at the time that a 28-year-old man slashed two strangers with a knife in the seemingly random attack just after 10pm at the busy tourist hotspot.

And just days before, the Big Apple was stunned when a homeless woman was set on fire and burned to death while she slept on a subway car.

The victim was identified on Tuesday by the NYPD as Debrina Kawam, a 61-year-old homeless woman from New Jersey.