FDNY EMS Lieutenant Fatally Stabbed Outside Station in Queens

An emotionally disturbed man stabbed to death an EMS lieutenant on Thursday, police said—and New York City’s fire commissioner described the attack as “barbaric and completely unprovoked.”

Lt. Alison Russo, a 61-year-old medic, was on her way to get something to eat at a nearby deli when she was randomly attacked on 20th Ave. near 41st St. in Astoria at about 2:30 p.m., authorities said. The scene was a few steps from EMS Station 49 on 42nd St.

“It happened on the corner,” said an EMS worker at the scene. “He didn’t say anything to her. It was totally random. She was on her way to get food.”

The suspect stabbed Russo multiple times in the neck, said NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig. “There were two eyewitnesses who know the perpetrator, one of whom gave chase,” said Essig.

The 34-year-old suspect ran to his nearby apartment and barricaded himself, said Essig. The suspect’s third-floor apartment is upstairs from what is known as New York’s only swingers club.

“Cops said he was barricaded with a woman,” said a witness, Frank Millevoi, 50, a retired NYPD officer. “He was in there for about an hour before they talked him out. He was a disheveled guy with glasses. Definitely emotionally disturbed.”

“He didn’t put up a fight,” Millevoi said. “They walked him right across the street and put him in a police car.”

The suspect was taken to the 114th Precinct in Astoria. His name was not immediately released, and the charges against him were not immediately available.

Russo, a 24-year veteran of the FDNY, was rushed to Mount Sinai Queens, where she died.

Mayor Adams rushed to the the hospital where Russo died. “We lost one of our heroes,” Adams said. “She was on duty doing her job saving the people of New York.”

“I served with EMS as a police officer. I know what they do every day,” the mayor said, adding that many New Yorkers “do not realize how dangerous it is.”

“She was working for this city. She paid the ultimate sacrifice because of that,” Adams said.

Russo was a grandmother and also worked with the volunteer ambulance corps in Huntington, Long Island. She was a first responder to the Sept. 11 attacks, and “was cited multiple times for her bravery and her life saving work,” said Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh.

“She was absolutely beloved on this job,” Kavanagh said.

Russo is the 1,158th member of the FDNY to die in the line of duty and the second EMS worker to die in the line of duty in the last five years, the fire commissioner said.

“Today our city is grieving,” said Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell. “We can never tolerate this violence in our city. It has to and it will stop.”

Russo was appointed to the FDNY in March of 1998 as an EMT. She was promoted to paramedic in 2002 and to lieutenant in 2016, according to the FDNY.

Russo was set to retire in the next six months, said Uniformed EMS Officers Union Vincent Variale. “She had grandkids she wanted to spend time with,” said Variale, who spoke to Russo last week.

Variale noted EMS lieutenants are the only first responders who work without a partner. “So it’s devastating what happened. She was alone,” Variale told the Daily News. “Maybe she had a partner who could’ve seen this guy coming. We’ll never know.”

Russo’s death happened on the same day that a court hearing was being held for a suspect accused of murdering an FDNY EMT in 2017.

That suspect, Jose Gonzalez, was in a Bronx courtroom for a hearing related to the death of Yadira Arroyo, a 44-year-old mother of five who was crushed to death under the wheels of her ambulance on March 16, 2017 when Gonzalez allegedly jumped in the driver’s seat and took off.

After five years of delay, Gonzalez was found mentally fit to stand trial, the Bronx District Attorney said last week.

Gonzalez had been ruled unfit for trial on several other occasions, most recently in May.

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