![A New York ambulance [Shutterstock valerii eidlin]](https://images.dailycaller.com/image/width=960,height=411,fit=cover,f=auto/https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/shutterstock_1701721414-scaled-e1664493270126.jpg "A New York ambulance [Shutterstock valerii eidlin]")
A New York EMS lieutenant was stabbed to death Thursday in a random attack, according to the New York City Fire Department (FDNY).
Emergency Medical Service Lieutenant Alison Russo-Elling, 61, was fatally stabbed around 2:20 p.m., while on duty at Station 49 near 20th Avenue and Steinway Street in Astoria, Queens, the FDNY said in a post on Instagram.
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“While outside her station she was stabbed multiple times in a barbaric and completely unprovoked attack,” acting FDNY commissioner Laura Kavanagh said, CBS News reported. “Members of EMS serve only to help and save other people’s lives. To be attacked and killed in the course of helping others is both heartbreaking and enraging for our department in ways I can’t describe.” (RELATED: As Crime Surges, Mayor Adams And NYPD Say Repeat Offenders Are To Blame)
The unidentified suspect fled the scene and barricaded himself in a nearby building before authorities took him into custody, according to CBS News. Russo was taken to Mt. Sinai Queens Hospital in critical condition and soon succumbed to her injuries.
Russo joined the FDNY as an EMT in March of 1998, was promoted to paramedic in 2002 and to lieutenant in 2016, according to the FDNY post. Russo was one of the first responders during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and aided “in the rescue and recovery efforts,” the FDNY added.
Russo is survived by her daughter and parents, according to the FDNY.