After TikTok star Chris Olsen detailed witnessing a potential knife attack while riding the subway in Manhattan on New Year’s Day, fans are expressing concern for his safety as well as the state of the public transit system.
“We just basically witnessed a stabbing and almost died on the subway ourselves,” he said seriously in a selfie-style video taken while walking on the street after escaping the situation, which he uploaded to TikTok shortly after.
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Olsen explained that, while he’s a frequent traveler on the city’s underground train system, his friend, Cara—whose voice was audibly shaking when she spoke—was not.
As a visitor to the city, she “got a little nervous” as some of their fellow passengers started yelling—a not-uncommon experience that Olsen tried to assuage her fears over until she spotted one of them pull out “a really big knife.”
When one man rushed the other, the whole car began to panic, creating a bit of a crowd crush as other riders surged in Olsen’s direction to switch cars. The two were able to lead the crowd down two cars, but as others screamed and shoved behind them, more and more people joined in the panic until they were trapped against the locked door to the next car.
“We don’t know if someone has brought out a gun. We don’t know who else has been stabbed. So we just hear screaming in the background and we keep getting pushed harder and harder against a wall,” he recounted the terror.
After someone pulled the emergency brake and the train came to a stop, he described five minutes that “felt like 30” before the train’s conductor came and unlocked the door, allowing everyone safe passage into the next car.
Olsen suspected that the conductor then locked the door again behind them all, allowing them some relief while they waited another 20 minutes or so for the train to start moving. When they finally made it off, Olsen said they both started crying.
He then begged his followers to “just stay safe” while traveling on the subway. “There’s been too much that’s been happening on there,” he added with concern before the video cut off.
@chris @corn nut #nyc #subway
♬ original sound – Chris Olsen
According to NBC New York, there were two separate subway stabbings around 9:30 a.m. on the first day of the year, however, this appears to be an alleged third incident that took place later that day.
Although Olsen didn’t specify the time, it was visibly dark in his video—apparently filmed in the immediate aftermath—and another commenter who allegedly witnessed it too reported that the incident occurred on the N train around 7 p.m. Olsen later confirmed in a comment that it was on the N between the 34th and 42nd street stations.
It’s unclear at this time if anyone was injured in the alleged attack, but fans were still concerned for Olsen and the ever-increasing risks of riding the subway.
“😭 what’s going on in NYC?! This is like the third incident I’m hearing about! I don’t even want to take the subway anymore,” one admitted, while another agreed, “I want to love public transportation but I hate it.”
Others expressed relief that the pair were okay, with one comment reading, “Oh gosh I’m so happy both of you are safe,” and another saying, “Please stay safe. Get home safely. This is so scary.”
“Oh my god 🙁 I’m so grateful you guys are safe,” another wrote, encouraging them to “please make sure to talk it out and acknowledge what you feel.”
“That is so much to deal with,” they added.
Next: Chris Carmack Reveals How Becoming TikTok Famous Helped Improve His Marriage to Wife Erin (Exclusive)