NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — The NYPD is investigating after a woman was found with slash wounds to the neck in Brooklyn early Thursday morning.

According to police, Sharon Whigham, 51, was found sitting on a bench with a slash wound to her throat in front of a senior center at 110 West 9th Street in Red Hook at around 4:30 a.m.

Emergency responders pronounced the woman dead on the scene, police said.

Detectives recovered headphones and a Gatorade bottle at the scene, but police say no knife was found, CBS2’s Ali Bauman reported.

Senior citizens gathered outside the building expecting to have their routine breakfast at the center, but left in shock after hearing the news.

“It’s scary because I’m 67 years old and I’m defenseless unless I have a weapon,” resident Beverly Griffin said. “Even then I’m defenseless.”

Neighbors say many use the block as a shortcut to the subway, and expressed concerns over traveling through at night.

“Now I’m scared to walk around here,” resident Miriam Acosta said.

An autopsy is expected to be conducted on Friday, sources told CBS2.

According to the NYPD, no arrests had been made as of Thursday afternoon as police search for a motive.

The investigation is ongoing.