Museum of Modern Art stabbing suspect arrested in Center City

Philadelphia police on Tuesday arrested a man suspected of stabbing two employees at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City over the weekend.

Gary Cabana, 60, was caught on video leaping a reception desk and stabbing two employees inside the museum Saturday, after he was denied entrance for previous incidents of disorderly conduct, according to the New York City Police Department.

The museum workers, a 24-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman, were stabbed multiple times and were in stable condition.

Just before 6 p.m. Monday, the Philadelphia Police and Fire Departments responded to a fire in a room on the fifth floor of the Best Western hotel on the 1200 block of Vine Street, said Police Chief Inspector Scott Small. Firefighters extinguished the blaze quickly and there were no injuries. Authorities determined that it was an arson.

By reviewing surveillance footage of the hotel, police were able to track down Cabana, Small said. Police found Cabana sleeping on a bench inside the Greyhound bus terminal in Center City and he was arrested there shortly after 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, police said.

As he was being escorted by police, Cabana told Fox 29 that Philadelphia police were “the best cops in the United States.”

After Cabana’s museum membership was revoked because of two separate incidents of disorderly conduct at the attraction, the museum sent him a letter informing him of his expired membership. A day later, Cabana showed up at the museum saying he planned to see a film that was playing there, NYPD deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism John Miller previously said.

“He became upset about not being allowed entrance, and then jumped over the reception desk and proceeded to attack and stab two employees of the museum multiple times,” Miller said.

Public records indicate Cabana attended Missouri State University to study theater but had resided in New York City since at least the early 2000s.

Although there is little evidence his own acting career took off, Cabana frequently posted images and videos of himself attending Broadway stage shows.

On social media, Cabana was critical of former President Donald Trump and tourists in New York who flouted masking rules. He often posted rambling notes online, including details about the alleged incident at the Museum of Modern Art in the aftermath of the stabbing, which he described as “a frame job.”

Cabana has no criminal record beyond a minor infraction during his college years. Friends have said he had struggled with mental illness, a condition that seemed exacerbated by the pandemic.

This article contains information from the Associated Press.