While on a trip to New York City, an Australian teenager had his journey abruptly interrupted when he was repeatedly stabbed while dining at a local McDonald’s.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Monday, around 2 a.m., inside a branch of the fast-food giant near Penn Station on Eighth Avenue, as reported by the New York Post.
While the 19-year-old was seated, enjoying his meal, he suddenly became the victim of a stabbing, suffering wounds to his back and rib area.
According to sources linked to the publication, although there were brief exchanges between the teenager and his assailant, the attack appeared to be unprovoked.
Following the assault, the young man was rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where medical professionals have confirmed he remains in stable condition and is expected to make a full recovery.
Juan Mercedes, 25, was arrested by police at the scene and charged with second-degree assault.
Regular customers told ABC7 that they stay away from the Manhattan McDonald’s during late-night hours.
‘There’s always fighting over here. There’s always arguing. You know, sometimes even in the daytime,’ said customer Tony Wright.
A 19-year-old tourist from Australia visiting New York City was stabbed multiple times while eating at a McDonald’s
The teenager was eating at the fast-food chain on Eighth Avenue, not far from Penn Station, before he was stabbed in the ribs and back around 2am on Monday
‘I don’t stay out here that late because every time around in the evening, at night, this is not the time for any one of us to be out here.’
The victim told the outlet over the phone that he is recovering.
It came hours after NYPD officers were forced to shoot a man wielding a butcher’s knife a few miles away in the Lower East Side.
Officers responded to multiple 911 calls about an assault in progress at an apartment building and spotted a trail of blood in the lobby leading up the staircase.
When cops ran up the stairs, the armed man came charging down with the large butcher’s knife in his hand.
Officers repeatedly demanded that the man show his hands and drop the weapon, which he refused to do.
But when the suspect lunged at the officers with the knife still in his hand, police deployed a Taser, AMNY reports.
When that didn’t work, officers fired at least four shots at the property on Ludlow Street, near Rivington Street.
Sources told the New York Post that the tourist and the attacker exchanged a few words before the attack but said the suspect was seemingly unprovoked
Juan Mercedes, 25, was arrested at the scene and charged with second-degree assault
The suspect, identified as Wei Chan, 54, was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
His father, Chung Chan, 75, was found with a gash to the head in an upstairs apartment, but it wasn’t clear whether it was caused by the knife or another object during the domestic-violence dispute, according to the Post.
It comes after a madman stabbed multiple people in Penn Station at the beginning of the summer.
Hector Deleon, 51, was the alleged homeless man who attacked five people on June 7.
Deleon was indicted on seven counts of attempted murder in the second degree, one count of assault in the first degree, six counts of attempted assault in the first degree and four counts of assault in the second degree.
According to court records viewed by the Daily Mail, Deleon was incarcerated as recently as May 26 after spending days behind bars in New Jersey on pending charges.
The victim told ABC7 over the phone that he is recovering
Deleon was also hit with assault charges in 2025. It is unclear how that case ended.
Two years prior, Deleon was found guilty of a 2022 aggravated assault attempt with a deadly weapon and unlawful possession of a deadly weapon in Essex County.
The stabbing threw Penn Station into a frenzy ahead of game three of the NBA Finals, which the Knicks would go on to win.