New York EMS staff stabbed to death in Queens

An Emergency
Medical Services (EMS) lieutenant was stabbed to death at New York’s Queens on
Thursday afternoon, police said. Authorities say the attack was completely
unprovoked. The EMT, identified as Lt. Alison Russo-Elling, 61, was stabbed
multiple times by an assailant at the corner of 20th Avenue and 41st
Street around 2:20 am, the New York Post reported.

Lt. Russo-Elling
had been a first responder during the World Trade Centre attacks on September
11, 2001. She was on duty and was located half-block from Station 49 on the
sidewalk when she was attacked, according to Chief of Detectives James Essig.

“At this
point in the investigation there doesn’t appear to have been any prior contact
between them,” a Fire Department of New York (FDNY) source told the New York
Post. “He just walked toward her, sped up and then stabbed her to death.”

Lt. Russo-Elling
was hospitalised where she died. The alleged assailant was arrested after a
Good Samaritan chased him down and barricaded himself inside his nearby
apartment, police said.

New York
Fire Department (NYFD) Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said Russo-Elling’s death
was heart-breaking adding that the veteran was stabbed in a “barbaric and
completely unprovoked attack.”  

New York
City (NYC) Mayor Eric Adams said: “We lost a hero today. Alison Russo-Elling
was a 25-year veteran of FDNY EMS. She was murdered on duty in an unprovoked
attack. Her assailant is in custody. Lt. Russo-Elling gave so much for our
city. Please keep her family and the FDNY in your prayers tonight.”

Lt. Russo-Elling was appointed to the FDNY as an EMT in March of 1998.
She was promoted to Paramedic in 2002, and to Lieutenant in 2016. She has
worked at multiple EMS stations, including Station 20, Station 17, Station 16,
Station 45, Queens Tactical Response Group and Station 49, according to FDNY’s
Instagram post on her death.

Russo-Elling is survived by her parents and her daughter. Funeral and wake information will be made available, the FDNY said.