[Breitbart] The attack occurred on Central Park West this afternoon near Manhattan’s Upper West Side, per the New York Times.
According to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the matter, the attacker walked up to the first man, Chok Sung, 57, on West 84th and Central Park West and stabbed him in the back. He then went to West 86th Street, the official said, where he approached another man, Yezhak Grunhaus, 50, and stabbed him once in the chest.
Police officers responding to a 911 call about an assault in the area arrived on West 84th Street to find Mr. Sung conscious, but with a wound on his torso. Officers then discovered Mr. Grunhaus two blocks north. Both men were taken by emergency medical workers to Mount Sinai’s Morningside location, where they are expected to survive, the police said. "A Jew, an Asian and a Moslem walk into a Deli..."
Police arrested a person of interest on Thursday. The identity of the assailant has not yet been released. According to the New York Post, police are “investigating claims that the suspect said ‘Allah Akbar,’ meaning ‘God is the greatest’ in Arabic, before one of the attacks.”
The Jewish victim, Yezhak Grunhaus, was wearing a yarmulke at the time of the attack, having previously left the synagogue at Central Park West and West 86th Street.
The police spokesperson said Raul Morales, 51, was taken into custody in connection with the stabbing. The suspect was apprehended after barricading himself inside a building at Amsterdam Avenue and West 88th Street, police said.
Morales yelled “Allahu Akbar” during both attacks, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch wrote in a message on social media, while citing victims and witness statements.
“The NYPD is currently evaluating whether this is a potential hate crime,” Tisch continued in her statement. “While the perpetrator has no known mental health history with the NYPD, the initial investigation suggests that mental health may have been a factor.”
| Mayor Mamdani loves the thought that there’s a reason not to man for trying to kill Jews. |
CBS reported that Morales has seven prior arrests.
A Manhattan Shomrim
| … Jewish neighborhood watch group… |
operations coordinator said the group received around five phone calls immediately after the attack and dispatched members to the scene, where Hatzolah emergency response members and NYPD personnel were also on hand. Shomrim members started canvassing the area and collecting witness statements, heard that the attacker had fled into nearby public housing and informed the police, who apprehended the suspect, several blocks north of the second attack.
"The NYPD was extremely fast and determined to get this guy," the Shomrim coordinator said.
He said the Asian victim was not Jewish. Initial reports had said both men were Jewish.
Jews are targeted in hate crimes far more than any other group in New York City.
There have been 178 confirmed antisemitic hate crimes in the city between January and the end of June, which account for 55 percent of all hate crimes in the city, according to the NYPD. Jews constitute around 10% of the city population.
On Wednesday, a man shouting antisemitic slurs shoved a Jewish man in Brooklyn in a separate antisemitic attack. The victim, 64, suffered injuries that required hospital treatment.
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