Brooklyn stabbing: NYPD investigating attack in Crown Heights as possible antisemitic hate crime
The NYPD has released pictures of man they are looking for in connection to a stabbing in Brooklyn on Tuesday that they are investigating as a possible antisemitic attack.
Officials say the incident happened just after 4 p.m. near the corner of Kingston Avenue and Lincoln Place in Crown Heights, just a block from Chabad Lubavich World Headquarters, the same network whose members were attacked with gunfire in Australia over the weekend as they celebrated Hannukah.
The headquarters is always surrounded with tight security, but even more so now after the deadly antisemitic shooting targeting its community members in Sydney.
"We just had a huge tragedy in Bondi Beach and everybody in this neighborhood in particular is connected. We are all one body, literally, figuratively and it's horrible," said Crown Heights resident and Chabad community member, Krana Nebenzahl.
The NYPD says Tuesday's attack began as a seemingly random verbal dispute between two men. The eventual suspect walked away from the dispute, and the eventual victim, a 35-year-old man, followed him down the block where they got into another verbal dispute that turned physical.
Police say the suspect then pulled out a sharp object and stabbed the victim in the chest.
The victim continued to follow the suspect across the street and down another block.
Officials say the victim suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was treated and released from Kings County Hospital.
The NYPD is now investigating reports that the attack originated from antisemitic comments that were made by the suspect.
In the time since the attack, the NYPD has released photos of the suspect and deployed dozens of additional officers to Crown Heights to search for him.
It comes amid another possible bias attack being investigated by the NYPD in Brooklyn.
A group of men say they were targets of anti-Jewish comments during a confrontation on a subway train on Monday night as the men were returning from a Hannukah celebration in Manhattan.
The NYPD said on Tuesday that they have reviewed videos from the train car and from social media, and based on all of the footage and audio, do not currently have evidence that it was a bias-based attack, but have a person of interest who they are looking for in connection to the assault.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident or who recognizes this individual is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at crimestoppers.nypdonline.orgor on X by DMing @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.
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