Two elderly Asian women were stabbed as they waited for a bus in downtown San Francisco — the latest in a series of attacks against Asian Americans in the US since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.
A woman working at a flower stall on Tuesday afternoon told KGO-TV that she saw a man walking on Market Street shortly before the attack carrying “a pretty big knife” with knuckles on the handle.
“Her back was turned and all I see is feathers came out of her jacket, so I am very sure that she got sliced,” the witness said of one victim. “He walked away like nothing happened, like Sunday morning.”
Police said the 63-year-old and 84-year-old women remained hospitalized on Wednesday.
The 84-year-old was initially treated for life-threatening injuries, but her medical status has been upgraded to non-life-threatening, police said.
Victoria Eng, the granddaughter of the older victim, Eng Chui-fong, on Wednesday said that she was in a stable condition in intensive care, the San Francisco Examiner reported.
“She is coherent and speaking on the phone already,” Eng said. “She is a true fighter.”
Eng’s grandmother was stabbed in the right arm with a long knife that entered her chest, Eng wrote on a GoFundMe page to raise money to cover expenses from the woman’s surgery.
The younger woman had injuries that were not life-threatening, authorities said.
Patrick Thompson, 54, of San Francisco was arrested about two hours after the attack. Investigators were working to determine whether the incident was motivated by racism, although Police Chief Bill Scott told the Police Commission on Wednesday that there was not any indication so far that the attack was a hate crime, the Examiner said.
It was not immediately known whether Thompson had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office did not immediately know whether it would be assigned to the case.
San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin said that his office expected to announce charges against Thompson yesterday.
His office also planned to start a pilot program to provide support to elderly Asian victims of crime, he said in a statement.
The attack highlighted the dangerous climate that Asian Americans have faced since COVID-19 entered the US after surfacing in China. Racially motivated harassment and assaults have occurred throughout the US.
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China’s technological leaps. The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21km race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, said a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race began. That was faster than the human world record holder, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race. The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime
HAZARDOUS CONDITION: The typhoon’s sheer size, with winds extending 443km from its center, slowed down the ability of responders to help communities, an official said The US Coast Guard was searching for six people after losing contact with their disabled boat off the coast of Guam following Typhoon Sinlaku. The crew of the 44m dry cargo vessel, the US-registered Mariana, on Wednesday notified the coast guard that the boat had lost its starboard engine and needed assistance, Petty Officer 3rd Class Avery Tibbets said yesterday. The coast guard set up a one-hour communication schedule with the vessel, but lost contact on Thursday. A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft was launched to search for the six people on board, but it had to return to Guam because of
RSS