A public school employee who was briefly a New York police officer has been charged with second-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of a 28-year-old female jogger in Brooklyn last week, an apparently random attack.
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who → charge → Brooklyn
Sayed Mohassib, 27, was arrested Saturday in the death of Katie Suarez, who was attacked Oct. 30 along the Belt Parkway bike path in the Bath Beach section of Brooklyn, where she had gone for a run.
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she → arrest → run
Mohassib told investigators he had been walking along the path with a knife, police said.
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police → tell → knife
Security video shows Mohassib in the area of the jogging path and later running away from the area of the crime scene, according to court documents.
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Mohassib → show → documents
Mohassib was ordered held without bail Saturday night at his arraignment in Brooklyn.
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Mohassib → order → Brooklyn
The criminal complaint charges him with second-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
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complaint → charge → weapon
He told investigators he blacked out and was covered in blood when he regained awareness while he was seated on a bench, according to law enforcement sources and court documents.
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he → tell → sources
Investigators said Mohassib admitted going with a knife to the bike path, where he walked to and from the Verrazano Bridge, but insisted he didn’t stab anyone.
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he → say → anyone
He said he believed he had to go to the path or else “people were going to come and kill his family,” his criminal complaint says.
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complaint → say → family
Suarez was stabbed at least two times in the neck and was rushed to the hospital, where she died from her injuries days later.
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she → stab → injuries
Detectives used security video from the area to help identify Mohassib as a suspect, authorities said.
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authorities → use → suspect
Security cameras also captured him dumping bags of garbage in his underwear about 15 minutes after he returned home after the stabbing, according to a police account in the complaint.
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he → capture → complaint
A search was underway Sunday at a sanitation facility for any evidence that may have been discarded.
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that → discard → evidence
According to the complaint, Mohassib admitted that he threw away his bloody clothes and the knife.
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he → accord → clothes
He also said he had blood on his hands and clothes when he returned to his apartment and transferred some of it there.
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he → say → it
Police identified a bloodstain in the apartment, which Mohassib said he tried to clean.
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he → identify → which
Mohassib spent about a month as a New York police rookie in the Bronx beginning in October 2022 before he asked to be reassigned to the military on extended leave.
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he → spend → leave
He was removed from military service because of mental health issues, according to a law enforcement source familiar with his background.
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He → remove → background
He officially resigned from the police department on Dec. 16, 2022, while he was still on his military assignment.
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he → resign → assignment
His police-issued firearm had already been removed, and it was never returned to him.
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it → issue → him
In January 2023, the police department denied Mohassib’s request to be reinstated.
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department → deny → request
The source said he was taken to the psychiatric ward at Bellevue Hospital after he exhibited strange behavior when he tried to get his job back in person.
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he → say → person
According to a law enforcement source, police responded to Mohassib’s home in Brooklyn on Sept. 27, 2024, but he was not there.
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he → accord → Sept.
His mother and sister told police that Mohassib had threatened to chop them up.
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Mohassib → tell → them
He was found nearby and taken to Coney Island Hospital, according to the source.
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He → find → source
Mohassib most recently worked for the New York City Education Department as a paraprofessional at P.S. 200, an elementary school in Brooklyn also known as the Benson School.
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Mohassib → work → School
He continued to report to work among children after the stabbing, law enforcement officials said.
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officials → continue → stabbing
It was not immediately clear whether his psychiatric history was reviewed before he was hired.
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he → review → ?
We have suspended this individual and will move to terminate employment pending the outcome of the conviction,” an Education Department spokesperson said in a statement.
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spokesperson → suspend → statement
“We are supporting the NYPD in their investigation however is needed.”
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We → support → investigation
Police believe the attack was random.
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attack → believe → ?
Suarez was supposed to meet her parents after her run.
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Suarez → suppose → run
When she did not arrive, her father went looking for her and found her.
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father → arrive → her
She fought for her life in the hospital for several days before she died of her injuries, said her mother, Yasira Suarez.
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mother → fight → injuries
The Aporia
