Two people were injured when five masked men attacked them after a high school graduation ceremony Wednesday in New York, slashing one person in the ear and another in the leg, school officials said.
The attack outside a sports complex at Hofstra University on Long Island occurred as graduates from Hempstead and Uniondale high schools were leaving the facility with their families, according to a statement released on behalf of the schools.
The statement described the person slashed in the leg as a guest of a student. That student intervened and was slashed in the ear, according to the statement.
Both victims were taken to a local hospital. Their conditions weren’t immediately known.
The Nassau County Police Department said it responded to a report of a possible assault at the Hofstra campus at 4:20 p.m. It wasn’t immediately clear if the assailants were taken into custody.
The attack is believed to be linked to a domestic dispute, and everyone who attended the ceremony had passed through magnetometers, according to the statement for the schools.
“We underscore that this incident took place outside of the graduation venue,” the statement read. “Our security team is cooperating with Nassau County Police and Hofstra Public safety officers.”
A spokeswoman for Hofstra University said the campus was secure and referred additional questions to police.
Additional details about the incident were not immediately available.
