Police: 3 Syracuse residents stabbed in Acropolis early Sunday morning
UPDATED: Dec. 10, 2017 at 9:23 p.m.
Three Syracuse residents were stabbed in Acropolis Pizza on Marshall Street early Sunday morning, police said, a restaurant the city once threatened to shut down in 2012 unless it took steps to increase security after a Syracuse man was stabbed in the pizzeria’s doorway.
In a public safety notice sent to the Syracuse University community at about 5 a.m., the Department of Public Safety said police were searching for two suspects with knives who were last seen running north from the intersection of Marshall Street and University Avenue.
According to a Syracuse Police Department press release, one of the victims, 19, was stabbed in the neck and the other, 19, was stabbed in the abdomen and back. Neither of their injuries appear to be life threatening, said Sgt. Richard Helterline, an SPD spokesman.
The third victim, 20, was also stabbed in the neck and is listed in critical but stable condition at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University. The other two victims were also transported to SUNY Upstate.
An SU spokeswoman on Sunday confirmed that no students were involved in the reported stabbing incident “nor was anyone involved affiliated with SU.”
Steven Papazides, who manages Acropolis but was not present at the incident, said there was a pool of blood on the Marshall Street sidewalk in front of the store. It was cleaned up by 12:30 p.m. Sunday.
All victims had addresses listed in the city, Helterline said in a follow-up email.
The stabbing occurred at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday morning in Acropolis, according to a first public safety notice sent in a campus-wide email just before 3 a.m. Police advised students to stay away from the area.
Crimes have repeatedly occurred over the years just outside or near the pizzeria. In September 2015, four people not affiliated with SU were stabbed during a fight outside Acropolis. In September 2012, a Syracuse man not affiliated with SU was stabbed in the business’s doorway.
Following the 2012 stabbing, then-SPD Sgt. Tom Connellan said in an email to The Daily Orange that Acropolis had “been a focal point for late night problems over the last several months.” In response to the 2012 stabbing, DPS and SU’s Student Association sent an email to students suggesting they not go to Acropolis late at night. The city threatened to shut down the restaurant unless it took steps to increase security.
On Friday, DPS also sent two public safety notices about a robbery in the 900 block of Comstock Avenue. A student was reportedly robbed by a man “in possession of a handgun.”