Five people were stabbed with a machete at a rabbi's home in New York's Rockland County at around 10:00 pm on Saturday. The suspect is on the run and the victims have been taken to hospital.
Stabbing incident left five people injured
The attacker entered Rabbi Rottenburg's synagogue in Monsey, Rockland County with his face covered by a scarf, took out a machete and started attacking victims, who had assembled there for Hanukkah celebration, CBS New York reported.
According to witnesses, the attacker was a black man, who soon ran away from the scene, reportedly on a grey Nissan Sentra. First responders arrived soon and the victims were taken to hospital. Videos have emerged online, showing police and ambulance, rushing to the stabbing site. In other videos, victims can be seen, taken from the site, on stretchers.
One of the victims was stabbed six times
Both the police department and Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council (OJPAC) have confirmed multiple stabbing victims. One of the victims was stabbed six times, OJPAC said in a statement.
"We will NOT allow this to become the new normal. We'll use every tool we have to stop these attacks once and for all. The NYPD has deployed a visible and growing presence around Jewish houses of worship on the streets in communities like Williamsburg, Crown Heights and Boro Park," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio added in a tweet.
According to reports, witnesses saw the suspect's car's number plate and the search for the search is ongoing. The police has reportedly sought assistance from Rockland County aviation authorities, to nab the suspect.
This is in a series of attacks, directed at the Jewish community in the US. On December 10, two shooters entered a kosher supermarket in Jersey City, New Jersey, killing four, before they were killed by the police. According to authorities, the attack was fueled by a "hatred of the Jewish people".
