New York City police have arrested a man who allegedly killed two people and badly wounded a third in an apparently unprovoked stabbing spree in Manhattan, authorities said.

The attacks began early on Monday morning, when the first victim – a 36-year-old man – was fatally stabbed in the abdomen at 8.20am. The stabbing occurred at a construction site where the victim was working on West 19th Street, the New York police department (NYPD) said.

A 68-year-old man was stabbed multiple times and killed on East 30th Street about two hours after the first attack, police said.

A third stabbing occurred later on Monday morning when a woman was attacked shortly before 11am at 42nd Street and First Avenue in midtown, the NYPD said. The woman was described as being in critical condition at a local hospital.

Police said they had recovered two bloody kitchen knives in connection with the case.

“These random attacks left two innocent victims dead and another one fighting for her life,” NYPD chief of detectives Joseph Kenny said at a news conference on Monday. Kenny confirmed that the police did not suspect any other attackers were involved.

The 51-year-old suspect lived at the Bellevue men’s shelter on East 30th Street, according to ABC News. Police said he appeared to pick the victims at random.

“He just walked up to them and began to attack them with the knives,” Kenny said.

The man allegedly behind the stabbings was caught at 46th Street and First Avenue, police officials said. He is currently being held at a police precinct.

“It is a clear, clear example of a criminal justice system, of a mental health system that continues to fail New Yorkers,” the mayor, Eric Adams, said at the press briefing.