A rabbi was stabbed in broad daylight on the streets of London today in a suspected hate crime as two hero builders tackled and pinned the knifeman to the floor.
Rabbi Alter Yaakov Schlesinger, in his 50s, was queuing outside a Nat West bank branch on Stoke Newington High Street, Hackney, before he was attacked.
Witnesses say a man in his 40s, said to be of south Asian descent, ran off a bus and set upon the rabbi with a large knife just before 11am.
The rabbi was stabbed multiple times, including in the head, before the alleged attacker was tackled by two workmen and a Deliveroo driver.
He was pinned to the ground by the group-of-three, which including two Jewish builders, for seven minutes before police arrived.
The alleged attacker was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
Though police said they were not treating the incident as terror-related, witnesses allege that the rabbi was the target of a hate crime.
Construction site manager Lazar Friedlander and his brother Matt ran towards the alleged attacker and restrained him after hearing a ‘serious scream’.
Witnesses said the victim, who is in his 50s, was chased down Stoke Newington High Street, Hackney, by a man in his 40s carrying a large knife just before 11am
The victim, who was wearing Hasidic clothing, was knifed multiple times including in the head, police said, before he was tackled by local heroes
He said: ‘I’m Jewish myself, and I can see another Jewish man shouting ‘hold him, catch him, he’s got a knife! Stabbing!’
‘There were a couple of other people trying to grab him. Me and my brother managed to force him down and put his hands behind his back until the police came. I wouldn’t call myself a hero. You act in the heat of the moment.’
Though officers said the incident was not being treated as terror-related, some onlookers, believed he may have been targeted because of his religion.
‘Why he stabbed the Jewish man? I reckon it was a hate crime,’ Mr Friedlander said.
He added that he tried to speak to the assailant after pinning him down but ‘he just blanked me and wouldn’t say anything’.
The rabbi, said to be from Stamford Hill, was standing outside a bank when he was set upon in the unprecedented attack, one of his friends told MailOnline.
Though police said they were not treating the incident as terror-related, witnesses allege that the Jewish victim was the target of a hate crime
Witnesses said the victim, who is in his 50s, was chased down Stoke Newington High Street, Hackney, by a man in his 40s carrying a large knife just before 11am
Peter Lolkiewicz, a property manager, said he believed the knife used in the attack was about seven inches long: ‘I saw a man with a knife holding up the blade walking confidently towards the Nat West bank.’
Local business owner Atique Choudhury said that a witness had rushed into his restaurant moments after the stabbing: ‘My friend told me a person with a long knife ran up the road and stabbed him a few times.
‘He was armed with a knife and hit him across the head and shoulder.’
Mr Choudhury claimed he heard yelling and screaming and rushed out to the street, adding: ‘I saw a gentleman on a chair in a cafe being comforted.’
Witness Efrayim Goldstein tweeted: ‘Great Job to the brave men who held him down, helping police is always nice to see. Let’s hope the police use the full force of the law to have this criminal behind bars. Off our streets.’
Workmen and a driver for takeaway service Deliveroo pinned the assailant, said to be of Asian descent, to the ground before police attended the scene
Aasmah Mir, breakfast presenter on Times Radio, tweeted: ‘Caught up in aftermath of a stabbing on Stoke Newington High Street in London this morning.
‘Men running, screaming ‘Call The Police!’ Heard a woman driver behind me telling a bus driver that the alleged attacker had got off his bus.
‘Builders jumped on him. Absolutely terrifying.’
She added: ‘Those builders and the delivery driver who jumped on the alleged attacker are just the best. I feel quite emotional about it because people don’t care about their own safety, they just work together to keep everyone else safe.’
Dozens of emergency service vehicles, as well as Hatzola, the Jewish ambulance service, scrambled to the scene and a police cordon remains.
A spokesman for London Ambulance Service confirmed: ‘We assessed a man at the scene and took him to a major trauma centre.’
Hackney Police tweeted that a man in his 50s was take to hospital with injuries while another man, in his 40s, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder today
Dozens of emergency service vehicles, as well as Hatzola, the Jewish ambulance service, scrambled to the scene and a police cordon remains
Hackney Council told locals: ‘Stoke Newington High Street is closed between Evering Road and Stoke Newington Church Street following a police incident.’
The Community Security Trust said they were ‘aware of reports a Jewish man has been stabbed in Stoke Newington, North London’.
Scotland Yard said in a statement: At 10:54hrs on Friday, 12 June police were called to reports of a male being restrained in Stoke Newington High Street, N16.
‘Officers and London Ambulance Service attended.
‘A man, aged in his 50s, was found suffering stab wounds. Another man, aged in his 40s, had been restrained on the floor by members of the public.
‘A man, aged in his 40s, has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. He has been taken to hospital after suffering what is believed to be minor head injuries.’