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Police: Homeless Man Stabbed 2 At Richfield Shopping Center

CLIFTON, N.J. -- A homeless man stabbed two men, killing one, at the Richfield Shopping Center in Clifton on Monday morning, authorities said.

Police have arrested Henry Werner, 61. Witnesses told CBS 2 that Werner started beating up an 81-year-old man for no apparent reason. The victim's 67-year-old friend died from a stab wound when he stepped in and tried to stop Werner.

"The two fellows who were stabbed came down from Dunkin' Donuts, and Henry followed them down," Debbie Roon, who runs the Town Wash Tub laundromat, told 1010 WINS' Al Jones.

Police: Homeless Man Stabbed 2 At Richfield Shopping Center

"He knocked another guy down," said another witness, Viera Purjancik. "His head was by the trash can over here, and he was sticking knife ... to another person."

Roon said she heard some shouting in the strip mall just after 7 a.m., then ran outside to see Henry, one of the men and an off-duty Nutley police officer rolling around on the sidewalk.

The off-duty cop eventually subdued Werner.

"He's shouting, 'I'm a cop, I'm a cop," Roon said. "He's actually on top of Henry, who's on top of the guy that he had just stabbed."

Both victims were taken to a hospital, where the 67-year-old died a short time later. The surviving victim was slashed in the back and suffered "serious bodily injury," The Bergen County Record reported.

Their names have not been released.

Roon said Werner had been a fixture in the area for years and would often quietly sit inside her laundromat. She said she's shocked that he would go on a violent rampage.

"I've never had a problem with Henry," she said. "If he ever came here and I asked him to leave a couple of times, he just got up and left."

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