Detectives on Thursday released a photo of a man wanted in connection with a stabbing in Brooklyn that is being investigated as a possible hate crime.
The 25-year-old victim was walking on Empire Boulevard in Crown Heights at about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday when an attacker came up behind him and stabbed him in the back, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce.
The victim ran to a nearby store and called 911 after the stabbing. A medic who was just a few storefronts away heard the call on his radio and jumped in to help.
The young man was taken to Kings County Hospital and is recovering from a collapsed lung, Boyce said.
The man practiced Hasidic Judaism and was dressed in the religious sect’s traditional garb.
“We’re looking at it as a possible hate crime because he’s dressed in that fashion,” Boyce said.
The attacker didn’t say anything to the man before stabbing him, investigators said. He is seen in a surveillance video running from the scene.
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Anyone with information about the attacker should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
The Anti-Defamation League is offering a$10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the attacker.
"Our community wants nothing more than to see the perpetrator of this shocking crime brought to justice," said Evan Bernstein, ADL New York director.
