Cops hunting for a deranged man who stabbed a stranger in the eye in a random attack on a Brooklyn subway platform are seeking the public’s help to grab him before he strikes again.
They released a photo and a video of the suspect in the assault, which happened just before 4:30 a.m. Thursday morning inside the Bay Ridge Avenue subway station.
Police said that the two did not know each other and the attack appeared to be random.
The victim, Nedal Kifayeh, 30, was waiting for the train en route to his 5 a.m. work shift at a catering hall when he was attacked, his brother Sam told the Daily News.
The stabber jumped onto an incoming R train and escaped, police said, while the victim was taken to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn in stable condition. He was later transferred to Belleview Hospital where surgeons attempted unsuccessfully to save vision in his injured eye.
Obtained by Daily News
Nedal Kifayeh, 30, was waiting for the train en route to his 5 a.m. work shift at a catering hall when he was attacked, his brother Sam told the Daily News.
“What kind of hate that you have to stab someone in the eye?” Kifayeh’s brother Sam told the Daily News on Saturday.
“It’s kind of crazy. He had to call the ambulance himself — nobody was there to help him,” said the brother.
“He just said, ‘Some random guy stabbed me in the eye,’” the brother recalled Kifayeh telling him.
“He is very, like, in shock so I haven’t been able to get much information from him,” he said.
The brother said that despite one surgery and a transfer to Bellevue Hospital for the staff’s specialized expertise in eye injuries later, doctors have told the family that it is likely that Kifayeh will be permanently blind in the injured eye.
“It’s tough. He’s handling it okay and we are telling him to be faithful and thank God he’s alive,” said the brother. “I’m just grateful that I didn’t lose my brother.”
“I’m a soldier. I’m sticking by my brother’s side. I know it’s going to mess him up mentally,” Sam Kifayeh said. “I’m just here to support.”
Last month, another NYC commuter was stabbed — this time in the back at the First Ave. subway station in the East Village. The 29-year-old victim had just exited a Brooklyn-bound L train when a fellow passenger sunk a blade into his back. A 27-year-old man was arrested a few days after the incident.
There have also been several incidents in the recent past with mentally ill homeless people pushing subway riders to the subway tracks.
Police released surveillance stills and video Saturday of the suspected attacker. He was last seen in black graphic hoodie with a blue Amazon vest thrown on top.
Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
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