A man suspected of stabbing two employees of New York City’s Museum of Modern Art was captured Tuesday in Philadelphia after allegedly starting a hotel fire, officials said.
Gary Cabana, a 60-year-old who lives in Midtown Manhattan, will face charges in the double stabbing when he is extradited to New York, police said.
The stabbings happened about 4:15 p.m. Saturday when the suspect approached the reception area at the midtown Manhattan museum with the reported intent of seeing a film, said John Miller, the New York Police Department’s deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism.
After Cabana was rejected because his membership was no longer active, a result of recent disorderly conduct incidents, he jumped over a reception desk and stabbed the two MOMA employees multiple times, Miller said.
The victims were taken to a hospital and were expected to survive, according to police.
On Monday night, the Philadelphia Fire Department and police were called to a Best Western for a room fire that they determined was arson. Video surveillance and the name connected to the room led investigators to believe that the person who set the fire was Cabana, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said.
A senior law enforcement official said a front desk worker reported that Cabana had used his last and middle name, but the worker still recognized him as the person being sought by police.
Cabana was later found asleep on a bench near a Greyhound terminal, according to Small. He did not resist arrest.
“I’m the guy you’re looking for. I had a bad day,” NYPD officials said Cabana told Philadelphia police, according to NBC New York.
The Secret Service was also involved in investigating Cabana in connection to threats he allegedly made against former President Donald Trump, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig.
He will be charged in Philadelphia in connection with the alleged arson. Small said investigators are trying to determine what, if any, connection he has to Philadelphia.
In a statement, a MoMA representative said the museum would reopen Tuesday.
"We look forward to welcoming back our members and visitors," the representative said. "We're relieved and grateful that our colleagues are recovering, and the attacker was arrested."
