A man late on Saturday attacked a Hanukkah celebration at a rabbi’s home north of New York City, stabbing and wounding five people before fleeing in a vehicle, police said.
The attack appeared to be the latest in a string targeting Jews in the region, including a massacre at a kosher grocery store in New Jersey earlier this month.
Police said the stabbings happened at about 10pm in Monsey, New York, one of several Hudson Valley towns that have seen an influx in large numbers of Hasidic Jews in the past few years.
Photo: AP
Ramapo Police Chief Brad Weidel hours later said that New York City police had located a vehicle and a possible suspect was being sought in connection with the stabbing.
Top state officials, including New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York Attorney General Letitia James, released statements condemning the attack.
Investigators had cordoned off the home on Forshay Road with yellow crime scene tape as of 3am. Onlookers gathered nearby and watched as officers collected evidence and worked to determine what occurred hours earlier.
A number of police and emergency vehicles also remained at the scene.
The Anti-Defamation League of New York and New Jersey was at the scene in Monsey, about an hour north of New York City.
The Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council for the Hudson Valley region tweeted reports that the stabbings took place at the house of a Hasidic rabbi while they were celebrating Hanukkah.
The home belongs to Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg, who leads the synagogue adjacent to the residence, according to public records.
Saturday was the seventh night of Hanukkah.
Cuomo, who called the stabbings a “cowardly act” has directed the state police hate crimes task force to investigate the attacks.
“Let me be clear: Anti-Semitism and bigotry of any kind are repugnant to our values of inclusion and diversity, and we have absolutely zero tolerance for such acts of hate,” he said in a statement.
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