Two men were hospitalized after getting into a broad-daylight knife fight on a blighted Bronx block where a teenager was fatally stabbed in a brawl days earlier, police said Thursday.
The fight broke out around 1 p.m. when the men — two long-time rivals — ran into each other in a building on Webster Ave. in the Butler Houses complex, police sources said. The men first clashed in the lobby, but the fight quickly spilled into the courtyard, the sources said.
Medics transported both victims to St. Barnabas Hospital. A 49-year-old victim was stabbed in the neck and is in critical condition, according to police. His 48-year-old rival was stabbed in the back and face and is in stable condition
“The big guy was stabbed all over his body. The skinny guy was stabbed many times in his body and also in his face. They were both laid out on the floor, both of them saying, ‘I can’t breathe’,” a 25-year-old man who witnessed the fight told the Daily News. “It was blood all over the place.”
“It’s hot. Tensions get high when it’s summer time,” the witness said with a shrug when asked what sparked the violence.
A police source told The News both men grew up in the area. “It’s an old beef. They both have extensive criminal histories,” the source said. “They’ve had heated interactions before.”
The fight unfolded on the same block where 18-year-old Shannon Kelsey was fatally stabbed in a chest in a brawl that also injured two others earlier this week.
Police do not believe the two incidents are related.
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