 WASHINGTON - Igbal Asghar reached across the counter at Super Halal Meat market and passed two butchered chickens to the man with the familiar face. Then he ducked into the walk-in freezer to fetch the customer's second order, goat meat.
| Yummy! Goat meat! The very thought makes me want to... |
When the butcher stepped out seconds later, the customer's severed left hand lay on the floor by the meat saw, Asghar said.
| "'Scuse me, Mahmoud! Is that your hand?" |
The customer ran down the Springfield store's center aisle and into the front parking lot, leaving a trail of blood and yelling repeatedly that he was "not a terrorist."
| "I am not a terrorist! I am a nut! I'm a nut in pain... I'm a nut with significant blood loss... And shock... And no goat meat..." |
Outside, another witness said, the man announced that he had used the meat saw to cut off his hand "for Allah."
| Really. That sort of sentiment only seems to occur to people who bonk their heads on the floor five times a day, 365 days a year. I think it's accumulated minor traumas adding up to a major loss of coherence... |
Rescue workers arrived minutes after the incident Saturday evening and took the man -- and his detached hand -- to Inova Fairfax Hospital. Fairfax County police declined to comment or release the man's name yesterday, saying no charges would be filed.
| "Muldoon! See if there's any laws against slicing off your own hand with a meat saw!" |
Those who saw the action unfold remained jarred.
| "Oh, hold me, Mahmoud! I'm so jarred!" |
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