All I can say at this point is that if you live in Columbus or the surrounding area or planning to visit Columbus in the near future, it would be a nice thing to visit the Nazareth Restaurant & Deli to show your support for Mr. Baransi and have a falafel and maybe some shish kabob.
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“(He) immediately began swinging a machete at customers and employees inside”, Columbus police Sgt. Rich Weiner said.
Police said the man walked into the restaurant, left after a conversation with an employee, then returned about a half hour later and started attacking two people sitting in a booth.
“He came to each table and just started hitting them”, she told WBNS. “I just thought he was going to come behind me and slash me up”, she recalled.
Police said the officer who shot the suspect was John Johnson, a 25-year veteran assigned to the patrol bureau.
The man eventually fled the scene in a auto and led police on a short chase.
When a machete-wielding man launched an attack at an OH restaurant, injuring four, “complete chaos broke out”, one witness told ABC News today.
A police spokesman says an attempt to stop the suspect using a stun gun was unsuccessful, and an officer shot him when he lunged.
William Foley, 54, was in critical but stable condition today, police said, while Gerald Russell, 43, and Debbie Russell, 43, were in stable condition today.
Investigators identified the suspect as Mohammad Barry, who CBS News reports has a Somali background and may have traveled to Dubai in 2012. The last victim, Neil McMeekin, 43, has been treated and released, police said today.
According to The Associated Press, the man continued his rampage across the restaurant as others attempted to quell him by throwing chairs in his direction.
“Another officer in a cruiser fired a couple shots at him and put him down”, Weiner said.
The FBI is helping local police with the investigation, which includes trying to determine the attacker’s motive, a US law enforcement official said on condition of anonymity.
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He explained that the only reason he was not in the restaurant is because he went home that evening with a migraine. Weiner said two people got up and ran outside to call 911, and said one person got into a physical contact with the attacker.
