A 23-year-old man was stabbed in the back just before 3:30 p.m. on Saturday outside the Atlantic Armory shelter in Brooklyn, and police are now searching for whoever did it. The victim was taken to a hospital and is expected to recover, according to police.
Police are searching for the suspect responsible for the attack, as reported by News12 Brooklyn. Investigators have urged anyone with information about the stabbing to come forward and call in tips. Beyond the basic details confirmed by police, no further information about the attacker, the weapon, or what led to the confrontation has been released.
A Shelter With a History of Violence
This is not the first time violence has struck outside the Atlantic Armory. In February 2018, 21-year-old Miguel Acosta was fatally stabbed in front of the same shelter at Bedford and Atlantic avenues in Crown Heights at about 1 p.m., according to nydailynews.com. Police at the time described that suspect as a Hispanic man in his 20s, about 5 feet 6 inches tall, wearing a black wool cap, black jacket and blue jeans.
Homeless Services officials said in the wake of the 2018 killing that the Atlantic Armory had a minimum of 11 security staffers on duty at all times. A year earlier, in 2017, NYPD arrest data showed five robberies had occurred in close proximity to the Armory Men's Shelter at 1322 Bedford Ave., prompting the Department of Homeless Services to increase the number of peace officers deployed there from 37 to 54 over the preceding year, per nydailynews.com's reporting.
Pattern of Incidents at Shelters Citywide
That same 2017 reporting also documented other violent episodes tied to Brooklyn shelters, including a stabbing at a men's facility. That stabbing followed two other assaults outside homeless shelters, one involving a belt-buckle prong and another a metal pipe, according to the same nydailynews.com account.
The pattern isn't limited to men's shelters. At the Tillary Street Women's Shelter, a 200-bed facility in Downtown Brooklyn, violence and disorder began drawing attention within a few years of its 2003 opening, according to Gothamist. City data cited by the outlet shows annual 911 calls to that building rose 15% from 2019 to 2024, topping 2,060 calls, while at least 260 fights and disputes erupted there in 2024 alone, a 72% increase over 2019.
No arrests have been announced in Saturday's stabbing, and police have not released a description of the suspect. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact authorities.
