Ex-NYPD Officer Arrested in Fatal Stabbing of Brooklyn Jogger

A former New York City police officer has been arrested for the murder of Katie Suarez, a 28-year-old woman who was stabbed while jogging in Brooklyn on October 30. Sayed Mohassib, 27, was charged with second-degree murder and other crimes connected to the attack. Suarez was running along her usual route near the waterfront when she was stabbed in the neck. Her father found her unconscious under a tree about twenty minutes after she stopped answering her phone.

Mohassib had a troubled history with both law enforcement and the military. He joined the NYPD in 2022 but left after only about six weeks to join the Marines. The military later discharged him because they determined he was not mentally fit for service. After that, he tried to rejoin the NYPD but was turned down.

After being rejected by the NYPD, Mohassib went back to working for New York City's school system. He was employed as a classroom aide at PS 200, an elementary school in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn. That school is just a few blocks away from the waterfront path where Suarez was attacked. Investigators believe the attack was random, meaning Mohassib likely did not know his victim.

Suarez was a teller at TD Bank and was training for an upcoming race. On the evening of October 30, she went for a run along the Shore Parkway Greenway after work, following a route she knew well. She called her father at around 7:56 p.m. and told him she was about half a mile away. When she never arrived to meet her parents, her father went looking for her and found her unconscious near a tree at around 8:16 p.m.

Suarez was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries to her neck. Doctors later determined she was brain dead, but her family kept her on life support so she could donate her organs to others. She passed away three days after the attack. Her death deeply affected her family and community.

Police tracked Mohassib down using surveillance camera footage that allegedly showed him leaving the park around the time of the attack. According to sources, Mohassib told investigators he had no memory of the stabbing but woke up covered in blood while holding a knife. Investigators believe he threw the weapon in the trash, which eventually ended up at a dump in New Jersey. Police searched for the weapon but it is unclear if it was recovered.

After the stabbing, Mohassib returned to his job at the elementary school. His coworkers noticed that his behavior had become strange — he was acting erratically and his speech did not make sense. They reported their concerns to the police, though investigators had already been tracking him through the surveillance footage. Mohassib was arrested at his home in Bensonhurst, and the investigation is still ongoing.