Two people were stabbed in New York City Friday, and police are investigating whether it was a hate crime.
Raul Morales, 51, was arrested in the two incidents, according to NBC News.
“Detectives are continuing to work the case and determine motive, but according to victim and witness statements, Morales yelled ‘Allahu Akbar’ during both attacks,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in a statement. “The NYPD is currently evaluating whether this is a potential hate crime.”
The phrase means “God is the Greatest” in Arabic and is often associated with Islamic terrorist attacks.
Tisch said “the initial investigation suggests that mental health may have been a factor,” according to the New York Post.
The stabbings began when a 57-year-old Asian man was stabbed in the back with a knife at about 1:30 p.m., police and the sources said.
Not long after that, a 50-year-old man wearing a yarmulke was stabbed in the torso with a screwdriver after leaving a synagogue. Both victims were listed as stable at Saint Luke’s Hospital.
If you were a Jew in New York City, would you feel safe right now?
Between the stabbings, Morales was seen walking erratically and shouting “Islam.”
Morales was arrested at about 2:45 p.m. after he allegedly barricaded himself inside an apartment.
Nava Silton said two witnesses told her they heard the suspect say “Allah Akbar” before the second stabbing.
“The perpetrator tried to act like a normal person and that he wasn’t involved and muttering someone should call 911. Literally pretending he was not culpable,” Silton said.
The victim said “someone drove a screwdriver into the right side of his chest and yelled something,” but he did not hear what was shouted.
“It was serious, but he’s speaking, and he’s conscious,” she said about the victim.
Michael Jacobs and Morris Dahan responded to the scene. The two men are volunteers with Manhattan Shomrim, a civilian watch group in Orthodox communities.
Jacobs said the second victim “was fully identifiable as Jewish. He was wearing a skull cap, a yarmulke, a kippah, and he lives here in the neighborhood. He’s known in the neighborhood. He’s a respected person in the neighborhood. Minding his own business, just going to pray.”
Dahan praised the police response.
The suspect “was inside of an apartment, and they went in there, 50, 60 cops with dogs, canine, sledgehammers, whatever they need to break into doors. And sure enough, 15 minutes later, they came out with him,” Dahan said.
“I want to commend the bravery of a good Samaritan who led our officers to the location where the perpetrator was hiding, as well as our NYPD cops who brought an end to the incident without further injuries,” Tisch said in her statement.
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