The Italian man wounded in a Manhattan stabbing spree that left a Columbia University student dead is also connected to the school, it has...
The Italian man wounded in a Manhattan stabbing spree that left a Columbia University student dead is also connected to the school, it has been revealed.
Roberto Malaspina, 27, is an Italian PhD candidate who arrived in New York just a day before the attack to undertake a research project, Columbia president Lee Bollinger said on Saturday.
Malaspina was wounded in the deranged stabbing spree on Thursday night in Harlem, in which Columbia PhD candidate Davide Giri, 30, was stabbed in the stomach and killed.
Known gang member Vincent Pinkney, 25, was arrested minutes after the two attacks as he wielded a large kitchen knife and menaced a couple walking hand-in-hand in Central Park.
Roberto Malaspina, 27, (left) is an Italian PhD candidate who recently arrived on the Columbia campus to undertake a research project. He was wounded in the stabbing spree that killed Davide Giri (right) who is a grad student at Columbia
Vincent Pinkney, 25, was escorted into NPYD Central Booking on Friday night after he was arrested and charged with the stabbing murder of Columbia student Davide Giri in a wild Manhattan knife spree
Malaspina's connection to Columbia was not initially clear in the aftermath of the attack, as initial reports identified him as a tourist from Italy.
However, Bollinger said in a letter to students and faculty that Malaspina 'had just arrived in New York City from his home in Italy, to begin several months of independent research as a Visiting Scholar at the School of the Arts.'
Malaspina is a PhD student pursuing his degree in Philosophy and Human Sciences at Universit degli Studi di Milano, the letter said.
In fact, Malaspina had arrived in New York just 24 hours before he was stabbed in the apparently random attack.
'He was there on his own for one day, to do a research in the American university, and now he is hospitalized,' Malaspina's father told Italian media.
Father Corrado Malaspina, a retired radiologist, said his son is now in stable condition and it expected to survive.
'We have spoken with him on the telephone and thank God he is in good spirits,' the father added.
Malaspina (above) is a PhD student pursuing his degree in Philosophy and had arrived in New York just 24 hours before he was stabbed in the apparently random attack
Pinkney reportedly moved south on his stabbing spree, moving from Morningside Heights to Central Park
Hundreds attended a candlelight vigil held for Columbia University graduate student Davide Giri on Friday in New York City
Malaspina's mother said that her son is still to shaken up to discuss the details of the attack, including what the assailant might have said during his demented spree.
'He still doesn't want to talk about it, he doesn't feel like remembering the incident,' mother said in Italian media. 'It is the shock of the moment. He will do it when he is ready, he certainly did it for the police.'
At a massive candlelight vigil on Saturday night, the Columbia community mourned the loss of Giri, with President Bollinger calling his murder an act of 'unfathomable inhumanity'.
'Davide Giri was our student, our colleague, our teacher, our friend, and our fellow Columbian,' said Bollinger. 'We so deeply feel the pain and the injustice of that life promise breached in an act of barbarous violence.'
Murder suspect Pinkney is a career criminal with a lengthy rap sheet, including convictions for assault and robbery.
He is a member of a Bloods-affiliated gang called Everybody Killas and was on parole at the time of the attacks for a 2015 gang assault.
Pinkney being held without bail on Rikers Island on charges of murder and attempted murder.
No comments