Black man, 37, is arrested for 'storming into a rabbi's home with a machete and stabbing five people' during a Hanukkah party in an 'act of domestic terrorism' amid a surge in anti-Semitic attacks
- The attack occurred in the small, predominantly Jewish hamlet of Monsey, New York, at about 10pm Saturday
- The suspect was identified as 37-year-old Thomas Grafton of Greenwood Lake
- Grafton allegedly stormed into the home of Rabbi Chaim Leibush Rottenberg, where roughly 60 people had gathered for a candle-lighting ceremony for the seventh night of Hannukah
- Witnesses said the suspect wildly swung a large knife, stabbing five before he was chased out of the home
- He then tried to enter the neighboring Congregation Netzach Yisrael-Kosson before fleeing in a Nissan Sentra
- NYPD officers arrested the suspect 30 miles away in Harlem about two hours later
- State troopers were later seen marching Grafton out of the precinct in handcuffs before transporting him back to Rockland County, where he faces five counts of attempted murder and one count of burglary
- Local Hasidic community officials said the five victims, all Hasidic, were hospitalized, two in critical condition
- Governor Andrew Cuomo branded the incident an act of domestic terrorism on Sunday morning
By Megan Sheets and Ariel Zilber For Dailymail.com
Published: 14:35 AEDT, 29 December 2019 | Updated: 04:52 AEDT, 30 December 2019
New York City police have arrested a man suspected of stabbing five people in a rabbi's home during a Hanukkah celebration in a predominantly Jewish town in upstate New York on Saturday night.
The suspect was identified as 37-year-old Thomas Grafton of Greenwood Lake, New York, a police source told CNN.
Grafton allegedly stormed into the home of Rabbi Chaim Leibush Rottenberg, the leader of Congregation Netzach Yisrael-Kosson, in Monsey at around 10pm and began wildly swinging a machete at some 60 worshippers gathered for a candle-lighting ceremony for the seventh night of Hanukkah.
He stabbed multiple people before a man threw a coat rack, table and chair at the assailant and chased him out of the home, Hasidic organization Chabad reported, citing witnesses and officials in the majority-Jewish community.
Grafton then tried to enter the synagogue next door but it was barricaded by people who had taken shelter inside. He then reportedly fled in a gray car, as seen in surveillance video.
NYPD officers located him 30 miles away in Harlem about two hours later and he was taken into custody at the 32nd precinct. A police source said he was covered in blood at the time of his arrest.
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