Police gun down knife-wielding maniac who killed man, slashed woman, set homeless person on fire in Queens

A deranged slasher terrorized a Queens neighborhood for more than six hours Sunday, killing a liquor store owner, burning a homeless man’s skin off his body, knifing a mother of four and tossing a caustic liquid at two cops before officers’ bullets ended his madness.

Stunned residents watched as hundreds of cops flooded Astoria, some running down tree-lined streets with their guns drawn, while police helicopters hovered overhead.

The massive manhunt for the killer came to an end when cops cornered a still-raging James Dillon, 23, in his backyard at 6 p.m. He refused to drop the creepy neon-green kitchen knife he was wielding and tossed liquid from a Corona beer bottle, burning two officers’ faces and hands. The cops shot Dillon, firing seven times and hitting him twice in his legs. People on the street scattered and ducked for cover as the sound of gunshots pierced the air.

Dillon’s bloody spree began about 11:30 a.m., when Carpio, 39, was attacked by her home on 36th St. near 28th Ave. in the heart of the tight-knit community, according to the victim and police.
 The mother of four encountered her unhinged neighbor on her way to pick up one of her kids from church. “He got mad because I looked at him,” Carpio told the Daily News. “He said, ‘What are you looking at, you f—ing b—h?’”

Dillon grabbed her by the front of her coat and slashed her face — then stabbed her in the head.

“I felt the pain and I pushed him away, and I ran down the street,” Carpio said.

A group of neighbors who witnessed the mad attack helped fight off Dillon, who ran off down the block. Carpio was left with a slash from her left ear down to her jaw and a stab wound at the back of her head that required five stitches.

She said Dillon has long been a grim presence on the block.  “Everyone’s scared of him,” she said. “He’s a scary person. He looks like he’s going to hurt you.”

A few hours later, police were called to a gruesome scene at a liquor store about three blocks away, at Astoria Blvd. near Steinway St., according to officials.

There, cops discovered the owner of Astoria Liquors, George Patouhas, 55, had been splashed with a chemical, mortally knifed in the neck and set afire.

Cops recovered this blade that was used in the violent rampage in Queens.

A 61-year-old homeless man who helped out in the store was also doused with liquid and set on fire about 3:10 p.m., police said. Patouhas was taken to Mount Sinai Queens hospital, where he died. His friend was taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell, where he was listed in critical condition.A police source called the helper’s burns severe, saying the man’s skin had “peeled off.” Silvia Gonzalez, 58, identified that victim as Julio Bolanos, who she said did odd jobs at the liquor store and fed a colony of neighborhood cats.

“He said this person threw some kind of acid and he got burns on his hands, legs and in the neck,” Gonzalez said.

Police said Dillon has a history of mental illness and was hospitalized for about a month in 2014. Cops finally found him back on 36th St., near his home, and chased him into his backyard.

“The guy was just standing there with the lighter in his hand yelling, ‘Don’t come near me, don’t come near me,’ ” said a neighbor whose window overlooks the yard.

Police said Dillon refused to drop the knife he was holding and splashed a chemical on a lieutenant and an inspector before they shot him.

Both officers were taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital, while Dillon was taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center, police said.

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