Suspect charged in scissors stabbing on subway

A Germantown man was charged Friday with attempted murder after he allegedly stabbed a fellow passenger on the Broad Street Line multiple times with scissors, authorities said.

Police said Sheldon Mullings, 36, was on a southbound train Thursday afternoon when a South Philadelphia man boarded at Snyder Avenue. Without provocation, Mullings pulled out the scissors and attacked, thrusting the blades into the man's abdomen, back, face, and arms, said Capt. Larry Nodiff of South Detectives.

The 46-year-old victim got off the train at Oregon Avenue. Medics found him at street level and took him to Hahnemann University Hospital, where doctors gave him more than 60 stitches, Nodiff said.

About 40 minutes after the stabbing, police found Mullings at Methodist Hospital seeking treatment for a gash on his forehead. Officers recovered a pair of scissors and then took Mullings to Hahnemann, where the victim, recuperating after surgery, identified him as his attacker, Nodiff said.

The victim remained hospitalized Friday afternoon in serious but stable condition, said Lt. Frank Vanore, police spokesman.

Mullings, also known as Sheldon Millington, is originally from Jamaica and is considered a flight risk, said Tasha Jamerson, spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office. He was being held Friday pending arraignment. According to court records, Mullins has four prior arrests, three for narcotics possession and one for assault.

No witnesses to Thursday's attack have come forward, police said.

Jerri Williams, a spokeswoman for SEPTA, said she was mystified that no one reported the incident to station personnel.

Williams said SEPTA police officers reviewed surveillance video but did not see anyone who appeared to have been stabbed get off a train at the Oregon Avenue station.

"We just see passengers leaving the train," Williams said. "We didn't see any panic-stricken passengers. Nobody looked disturbed or had issues or concerns."

Anyone with information is being asked to call South Detectives at 215-686-3013.