Australian teenager on vacation in NYC is stabbed by stranger while eating meal in Manhattan McDonald's

Published: 21:22, 17 August 2026 | Updated: 21:22, 17 August 2026 An Australian teenager visiting New York City was stabbed multiple times while eating at a McDonald's restaurant in Manhattan. The 19-year-old was stabbed around 2am on Monday at the fast-food chain on Eighth Avenue, not far from Penn Station, according to the New York Post. The unidentified victim was sitting down while eating before he was stabbed in the rib cage and back. Sources told the outlet that the teenager and the attacker exchanged a few words before the attack but said the suspect was seemingly unprovoked. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition and is expected to survive. Juan Mercedes, 25, was arrested by police at the scene and charged with second-degree assault. Regular customers told ABC7 that they stay away from the McDonald's during late-night hours. 'There's always fighting over here. There's always arguing. You know, sometimes even in the daytime,' said customer Tony Wright. A 19-year-old tourist from Australia visiting New York City was stabbed multiple times while eating at a McDonald's  The teenager was eating around 2am on Monday at the fast-food chain on Eighth Avenue, not far from Penn Station before he was stabbed in the ribs and back 'I don't stay out here that late because every time around in the evening, at night, this is not the time for any one of us to be out here.' The victim told the outlet over the phone that he is recovering. The fast-food stabbing came hours after NYPD officers were forced to shoot a man wielding a butcher's knife on the Lower East Side. Officers responded to multiple 911 calls about an assault in progress at an apartment building and spotted a trail of blood in the lobby leading up the staircase. When cops ran up the stairs, the armed man came charging down with the large butcher's knife in his hand. Officers repeatedly demanded that the man show his hands and drop the weapon, which he refused to do. But when the suspect lunged at the officers with the knife still in his hand, police deployed a Taser, AMNY reports. When that didn't work, officers fired at least four shots at the property on Ludlow Street, near Rivington Street. Sources told the New York Post that the tourist and the attacker exchanged a few words before the attack but said the suspect was seemingly unprovoked Juan Mercedes, 25, was arrested by police at the scene and charged with second-degree assault The suspect, identified as Wei Chan, 54, was later pronounced dead at the hospital. His father, Chung Chan, 75, was found with a gash to the head in an upstairs apartment, but it wasn't clear whether it was caused by the knife or another object during the domestic-violence dispute, according to the Post. The recent stabbings follow a madman who stabbed multiple people in Penn Station at the beginning of the summer. Hector Deleon, 51, was the alleged homeless man who attacked five people at the notorious Penn Station around June 7. Deleon was indicted on seven counts of attempted murder in the second degree, one count of assault in the first degree, six counts of attempted assault in the first degree and four counts of assault in the second degree.  According to court records viewed by the Daily Mail, Deleon was incarcerated as recently as May 26 after spending days behind bars in New Jersey on pending charges. The victim told the ABC7 over the phone that he is recovering. Deleon was also hit with assault charges in 2025. It is unclear how that case ended. Two years prior, Deleon was found guilty of a 2022 aggravated assault attempt with a deadly weapon and unlawful possession of a deadly weapon in Essex County. The stabbing threw Penn Station into a frenzy ahead of game three of the NBA Finals, which the Knicks would go on to win.