A New York City bar in Manhattan was evacuated after a man with a knife left five people injured late Friday night.
Turtle Bay Bar, located at 2nd Avenue near East 52nd Street, was seen escorting patrons out around 1 a.m. after a man slashed four people and stabbed one inside their bar.
A man with the knife entered the bar and attempted to dance with a woman whose boyfriend became upset. The woman’s boyfriend approached the man after he put his hands on the woman’s hips, according to CBS.
The incident broke out into a heated argument around 12:30 a.m. The man pulled a knife and stabbed the boyfriend in the ribs. During the altercation, the boyfriend also sustained several slash marks to his upper body.
Four of the boyfriend’s friends attempted to intervene and were also injured with lacerations to their shoulders and head.
The man with the knife and another suspect fled the scene immediately following the attack while patrons, who began to panick, were ushered out of Turtle Bay Bar.
“Even with the music blasting, you could hear them yelling, distinct cursing,” patron Chris Abreu told the NY Post following the knife attack.
“There was a real problem exiting. It was bad, like a mad rush and lots of confusion.”
Following the fight inside the bar, all five men were brought to Weill Cornell Medical Center where they are reported to be in stable condition.
Police are searching for both individuals in the matter who are described to be in their 20s. The man with the knife was said to be wearing a white shirt and a white hat.
The knife used in the incident was not found at the scene of the crime.
