A deranged attacker yelling “Allahu Akbar” stabbed two men in separate attacks on the Upper West Side Thursday afternoon, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

Investigators were probing whether the suspect Raul Morales, 51, was motivated by hate, though Tisch also said “the initial investigation suggests that mental health may have been a factor.”

“Detectives are continuing to work the case and determine motive, but according to victim and witness statements, Morales yelled ‘Allahu Akbar,’” meaning, “God is the greatest” in Arabic, during both attacks, the top cop said in a statement.

“The NYPD is currently evaluating whether this is a potential hate crime,” she wrote.

Morales, 51, allegedly jumped the first victim, a 57-year-old Asian man near West 84th Street and Central Park West, and stabbed him in the back with a knife at around 1:30 p.m., police and the sources said.

The second victim, a 50-year-old man wearing a yarmulke, was attacked after leaving a synagogue at Amsterdam Avenue and West 86th Street, and stabbed in the torso with a screwdriver, according to cops and sources.

Both victims were brought to Saint Luke’s Hospital, where they were listed in stable condition according to police.

Morales was caught around 2:45 p.m. after he allegedly barricaded himself inside a NYCHA apartment just blocks away on Amsterdam Avenue near West 88th Street, cops said.

Nava Silton, who was speaking with the second victim inside the Jewish Center on West 86th Street before the attack, said she ran out and spoke to two witnesses who heard the suspect say “Allah Akbar” before the stabbing.

SOURCE: https://nypost.com/2026/07/23/us-news/2-men-stabbed-near-central-park-in-unprovoked-attack-sources/