The man who allegedly stabbed two employees at the Museum of Modern Art on Saturday was a Broadway usher and passionate critic of former President Donald Trump whose recent social media tirades had worried some of his friends, several people who spoke to Gothamist on Sunday said. Security footage released Sunday showed the enraged suspect, who police identified as 60-year-old Gary Cabana, leaping over the museum counter, cornering two employees and plunging a knife into them as they tried to escape. He fled the building and remained at large Sunday, the NYPD said. Friends of the suspect who saw the footage, along with social media posts they attributed to him, said they were in disbelief, claiming the behavior did not match the Broadway-loving usher theyd known for decades. “It wouldnt have ever occurred to me that he might lash out,” said Tara Varney, who said she studied theater with Cabana at Missouri State University in Springfield, and had remained close to him. Varney and other friends said that Cabana had a history of mental illness, which appeared to worsen during the pandemic. A public Facebook post shared on an account that three friends said belongs to Cabana called the stabbing an frame job,while seeming to acknowledge that he had previous altercations at the museum. Both victims, a 24-year-old man and 24-year-old woman who worked at the museum, were expected to survive, officials said.
