{"id":196422,"date":"2026-04-14T04:56:59","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T04:56:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/196422\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T04:56:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T04:56:59","slug":"machete-wielding-grand-central-attacker-shot-by-cops-used-to-perform-freestyle-battle-raps-as-fox-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/196422\/","title":{"rendered":"Machete-wielding Grand Central attacker shot by cops used to perform freestyle battle raps as “Fox 5”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friends of the the machete-wielding attacker shot dead by NYPD cops<\/a> in Grand Central Station are trying to grapple with how the man they once knew as a battle rap legend fell so far to end up slashing strangers in the subway.<\/p>\n

Anthony Griffin, 44, was well known in the Bronx for the freestyle raps he performed under the stage name \u201cFox 5\u201d before making headlines Saturday for slashing three elderly<\/a> victims and calling himself \u201cLucifer\u201d when cops unsuccessfully tried to get him to drop his bloody machete.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was always a kind side to him,\u201d Mickey Factz, a fellow rapper and NYU adjunct professor, told the Daily News. \u201cBut obviously there were some demons that he could not conquer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Anthony<\/p>\n

Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News; Facebook<\/p>\n

Anthony Griffin (inset) was shot dead by police in Grand Central Station on Saturday after slashing three elderly victims with a machete. (Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News; Facebook)<\/p>\n

In an online interview from a few years ago, Griffin cheerfully boasted he would one day be famous<\/a> in words that now take on a different tone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI already named myself \u2018Fox 5\u2019 knowing I would be a newsflash in the future,\u201d he said. \u201cGod gave me a heartbeat so I already had an instrumental. Speaking my mind is my freedom. It\u2019s my liberation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two decades ago, Factz and others looked up to Griffin.<\/p>\n

\u201cVia DVDs, in the very early beginning stages of YouTube in 2005, his name was circulating \u2026\u00a0 And he was pretty known in that very niche space,\u201d Factz said. \u201cHe was always the exuberant one in the space. He just always had a little bit more energy than a lot of us that were there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Anthony<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Terrell Blair<\/p>\n

Anthony Griffin, 44, performed under the stage name “Fox 5”. (Courtesy of Terrell Blair)<\/p>\n

While mourning his friend\u2019s death, Factz said he has nothing but sympathy for the victims Griffin wounded.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrayers and prayers and prayers to the families who were devastated by such a malicious attack,\u201d Factz said.<\/p>\n

Griffin\u2019s long-time friend and rap music colleague Terrell Blair<\/a> was also shocked by Griffin\u2019s rampage.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody anticipated anything to that extent,\u201d Blair said. \u201cHe has no track record of harming anyone, man. So it\u2019s hard for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve never seen that side of him,\u201d Blair added. \u201cI knew him since he was, you know, a child, and he\u2019s always had a good heart despite whatever he was dealing with. He used music as a vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police said that Griffin, who has a tattoo of the word \u201cOutlaw\u201d on his arm, has been arrested 13 times.<\/p>\n

He has no history of mental illness with the department. But friends said he started to ramble and seem mentally unwell around the time his mother died about five years ago.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News<\/p>\n

The scene on the subway platform in Grand Central Station after cops shot and killed Anthony Griffin after he attacked three elderly commuters on Saturday. (Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Griffin appears in YouTube videos from the late 2000s and 2010s squaring up against rappers Miguel Diablo<\/a> and Reign Man,<\/a> and was featured in the \u201c2 Raw For the Streets\u201d underground rap video series.<\/p>\n

Blair posted an Instagram video<\/a> from last summer of Griffin, rapping in the Bronx, his arm draped over Blair as he shared a few verses. They last spoke in December.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen anybody encounters Fox, be prepared \u2026 Fox will want to hold you there. And if he\u2019s dear to you, he wants you to hear his music and he\u2019s gonna give you a few bars,\u201d Blair said. \u201cHe usually walks around fully equipped with a little speaker.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police said Griffin targeted his three victims at random. He entered the subway system at the Vernon Blvd. station in Queens around 9:30 a.m. Saturday and took the No. 7 train to Grand Central Station. Once he left the train, he pulled out a machete lunged at an 84-year-old man on the platform, slashing the man\u2019s head and face.<\/p>\n

Griffin then moved upstairs to the Nos. 4\/5\/6 platform, where he attacked a 65-year-old man and a 70-year-old woman, slashing the man\u2019s face and causing an open skull fracture and chopping at the woman\u2019s shoulder, police said.<\/p>\n

\"One<\/p>\n

Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News<\/p>\n

Police investigate inside Grand Central Station after three elderly commuters were attacked on Saturday. (Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Two uniformed NYPD Transit detectives ordered him 20 times to drop his weapon but he refused, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. The cops then offered to help him if he dropped the blade but he advanced on the cops instead, his knife extended, Tisch said.<\/p>\n

Griffin referred to himself as \u201cLucifer\u201d during the clash with cops, according to police<\/p>\n

The cops opened fire, hitting Griffin twice, then performed CPR on him before medics took him to Bellevue Hospital, where he died.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Julian Roberts-Grmela \/ New York Daily News<\/p>\n

A memorial for Anthony Griffin is pictured on Sunday outside the Mott Haven building he grew up in. (Julian Roberts-Grmela \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a man of God, like he followed the Christian belief, and it\u2019s just shocking to see that he was calling himself Lucifer,\u201d said a childhood friend who asked not to be named.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was one of them individuals who had a gift with rapping. Like, you give him any topic, sort of like Eminem, and then he just go on. He could go on for hours just rapping about one topic. It was just amazing. It was a gift. Like, a lot of people can\u2019t do that. And he did it with precision. And he was very hilarious also definitely when he rhymed. So he was able to get people to gravitate towards him with his lyrical ability.\u201d<\/p>\n

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