A man was shot and killed by police after attacking a number of people with a machete in a busy Columbus restaurant. Baransi is an Arab Christian from Haifa, Israel.
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“I’m the minor, minor, minor minority of the minorities”.
“Employees told me he came in and looked around, asked where I was from, what food we have, where was I”, Baransi said.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is assisting Columbus police in the investigation. Police say a 54-year-old man remained in critical but stable condition Friday at a hospital.
Information connected to the registration of the suspect’s vehicle triggered an alert that required contacting the local terrorism task force, including the FBI, Weiner said.
CBS News has identified the suspect as Mohamed Barry, however neither 10TV nor Columbus Police have confirmed the suspect’s name.
Police said employees and patrons tried to stop the man, with some throwing chairs at him and one having a physical confrontation with the attacker before he fled.
He left, came back at around 6 p.m. and then attacked a man and woman at a booth just inside the door, Weiner said.
The suspect “immediately began swinging a machete at customers and employees” upon entering the restaurant, Weiner told NBC affiliate WCMH.
“Lone individual, machete, going into a public place, committing an assault on people that he apparently does not know”, Columbus Deputy Chief Michael Woods said.
Karen Bass was inside the restaurant when it all happened. He stormed inside the establishment wielding a machete and proceeded to attack several people.
“Right now there’s nothing that leads us to believe that this is anything but just a random attack”, Weiner said.
North Dakota’s largest city has been shaken by the fatal shooting of a decorated police officer, the first death of a Fargo officer in the line of duty in more than 130 years. He was armed with a machete and knife and lunged at a police officer before he was fatally shot, media said, citing law enforcement officials. An officer fired two shots at the suspect.
Jacobs said the officer who shot Barry was a 25-year veteran.
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Authorities have not released any information about the reason for the attack except to say that it could be nothing but a random act.
