Former NYPD Officer Charged with Murder in Fatal Stabbing of Brooklyn Jogger
Sayed Mohassib, a teacher's aide and ex-NYPD officer, was arrested Saturday for the fatal stabbing of jogger Katie Suarez in Brooklyn on October 30.
Former NYPD officer and school employee charged with murder in Brooklyn jogger's death
A teacher's aide who briefly served as a New York City police officer has been charged with murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of a jogger in Brooklyn, cnn.com reports, citing court documents filed in the case.
Sayed Mohassib was arrested Saturday, more than a week after Katie Suarez was stabbed in the neck while jogging along the Shore Parkway Greenway, a waterfront running path in Brooklyn, on the night of October 30. Suarez did not return from her run and did not answer her phone. She was found on the path "bleeding heavily from the neck" and was taken to a hospital, where she died from her injuries.
Surveillance footage captured Mohassib walking toward the running path before the incident and later running away from the area after the stabbing, according to the criminal complaint. Video also showed him returning home and "emerging fifteen minutes later wearing only underwear and subsequently throwing items into a garbage chute," the charging document states. When detectives showed him the footage, Mohassib confirmed it was him, authorities said.
Prosecutors say Mohassib told police he had gone to the path that night carrying a knife because "people were going to come and kill his family." He claimed he sat on a bench and "became covered in blood" but denied stabbing anyone. According to the complaint, he said he then ran home, discarded the bloody clothes and knife, washed his hands and attempted to clean blood from his apartment.
Mohassib was arraigned Saturday. He faces charges of murder and two counts each of tampering with evidence and possession of a weapon. CNN said it reached out to his attorney.
Questions over employment and military discharge
Mohassib's past is now drawing intense scrutiny. He worked as an NYPD officer for just over a month in 2022 before being granted extended military leave. His firearm was removed in late November of that year and never returned. He filed for resignation from the NYPD on December 16, 2022, then requested reinstatement in January 2023 — a request that was denied.
The NYPD told CNN that supervisors had observed "concerning behavior" and that Mohassib "appeared disheveled" at that time. "That same day, he was transported to Bellevue Hospital," the department said.
His final military assignment was with the Marines in South Carolina on December 15, 2022. "Mohassib's premature discharge is indicative that his service was incongruent with Marine Corps' expectations and standards," the Marines said in a statement Sunday.
At the time of the attack, Mohassib was employed by the New York City Department of Education as a teacher's aide. The department confirmed his employment Sunday and said it has suspended him, with termination proceedings to follow pending the outcome of the case. "The safety of our students is our very top priority," the department said in a statement to CNN. "We are supporting the NYPD in their investigation however is needed."
In a joint statement, New York City Council member Kayla Santosuosso, state Sen. Andrew Gounardes and Assembly member-elect Chris McCreight described Mohassib as a "mentally disturbed man" who had been "discharged from the military on psychiatric grounds." They called his employment in a public school an issue that "raises serious questions about how he came to be employed in a local public school and warrants a full investigation into the circumstances of his hiring and continued employment."
State Sen. Stephen Chan told CNN affiliate WABC that Mohassib working in a school was an "atrocity on its own."
Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)