Violent Attack at Newark Airport Leaves Tourist Hospitalized

Newark Airport Stabbing Incident

A woman vis­it­ing from North Car­oli­na was the vic­tim of a hor­rif­ic knife attack at Newark Lib­er­ty Inter­na­tion­al Air­port on Sun­day evening. 

Melis­sa Mauldin, 36, was wait­ing for her friend to return from the restroom when she was sud­den­ly assault­ed by a stranger, Xiong Jin, 54, in plain view of Port Author­i­ty police.

Suspect’s Criminal History

Xiong Jin, who is report­ed­ly home­less, was arrest­ed at the scene and is expect­ed to face an upgrad­ed charge of attempt­ed murder.

Records show that he had recent­ly been released from prison, hav­ing served near­ly three years for a pre­vi­ous aggra­vat­ed assault. Jin has a long his­to­ry of vio­lent offens­es, includ­ing two pri­or stab­bing incidents.

Victim’s Traumatic Experience

Mauldin, who was in New Jer­sey for a wed­ding, suf­fered a deep lac­er­a­tion to her face that required 14 stitch­es, as well as a frac­tured nose and cheekbone.

She told a local news sta­tion that she had nev­er felt unsafe while trav­el­ing before, and that the attack has left her feel­ing stripped of the secu­ri­ty she once felt.

Praise for Heroic Police Response

Port Author­i­ty police were quick to respond and appre­hend the sus­pect, like­ly pre­vent­ing fur­ther harm to the victim.

The depart­men­t’s lead­er­ship praised the actions of Offi­cer Ryan Man­gold, who cuffed Jin imme­di­ate­ly, as an “excel­lent” and hero­ic act that “saved the vic­tim’s life.”

Calls for Stricter Sentencing

Mauldin has expressed her desire for the sus­pect to face the full con­se­quences of his actions, stat­ing that he “pos­es a seri­ous dan­ger to soci­ety” and should remain in cus­tody to pre­vent fur­ther violence. 

The inci­dent has reignit­ed dis­cus­sions about the need for tougher sen­tenc­ing for repeat offend­ers, espe­cial­ly those with a his­to­ry of vio­lent crimes.