A man with his face wrapped in an American flag bandana slashed a woman's neck in Brooklyn Thursday morning in an apparently random attack, authorities said.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said that a 53-year-old woman was walking on Beverly Beverley and Rugby roads in Prospect Park South at about 9:30 a.m. when the man came up from behind and slashed her across her jawline.
Boyce said the attack appears to have been random, and the man and victim didn't exchange words before the attack. The slasher ran off, dropping the black-handled knife and the bandana along the way.
"Detectives are looking for this individual right now," said Boyce. "(The attack was) without provocation. It doesn't appear to be a robbery."
A woman who said she witnessed the chaotic aftermath approached the bleeding woman.
"I went over, asked her if she was OK. I noticed she had a cut across her neck," said the witness, who did not want to be identified.
"She said that she was walking down the street on the phone and a gentleman came up from behind her, cut her on the neck and ran off," she said. "She fell to the ground."
Local
Emergency responders treated the woman at the scene, fire officials said.
Dozens of police responded to the neighborhood street and police dogs were being used to search the area for the man. Video from the scene shows the attacker running down Argyle Street.
A neighbor who had his car parked in the area said police told him he couldn't move the vehicle because the bandana fell right next to it, marking it as part of the crime scene.
"He said, 'OK, stand over there, you can't move your car,' because they had a yellow marker on my car and there's a bandana," said the man, who only gave his name as Eliceo.
No arrests have been made, authorities said.
The random attack has unnerved residents in the family-friendly neighborhood.
"I have children, I have a wife," said Elceo. "I'm scared. I'm scared for her."
"You just have to be vigilant. There's nothing you can do," said Susan Schwartz.
Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
