A man believed to be a disgruntled former employee stabbed two women who work at the Museum of Modern Art in Midtown on Saturday afternoon.
The attack, which happened shortly after 4 p.m., sent customers running for the exits.
Both women were taken to Bellevue Hospital and their injuries were not life-threatening, sources said.
“I’m going to get a risk bonus!” joked a woman covered in blood, as she was wheeled into an ambulance.
The suspect, who is known to police, is believed to have been hiding in the museum, senior law enforcement sources said.
The building has been evacuated and police are looking for the man, believed to be a disgruntled former employee who was barred from entering the building.
Both women were taken to Bellevue Hospital and their injuries were not life-threatening, sources said.
Dozens of people who were in the museum at the time of the stabbings posted on social media that they had been led out of the building by security, without any explanation. Some of the messages said the police had arrived at the scene and ran straight to the locker room.
Tourist Wendy Keffer, from Austin, Texas, was entering the museum with her husband and children when the chaos began.
“As we were about to enter, we saw hundreds of people running at the same time,” she said. We’ve heard people say “shooter, shooter, shooter”.
Unsubstantiated reports of a shooting scared her son, Lane, 12.
“Everyone was shouting ‘shooter, shooter shooter,’ so I just covered my head,” the shaken boy said. “It was the scariest time of my life. I had just gotten into art and wanted to see the starry night, that’s why I came here.
“I still haven’t gotten over it,” Lane added.
The suspect, a white male, was wearing a dark jacket, blue mask and sunglasses, police said.
The museum could not immediately be reached for comment.
Additional reporting by Bill Miller
