Authorities arrested a man who is suspected of stabbing two Asian women in downtown San Francisco on Tuesday, NBC Bay Area reports.
Witnesses told KPIX-TV that a man clutching a knife was walking in the middle of downtown, at 4th and Market Streets, just before 5 p.m, when he approached a bus stop, stabbed two women, and then walked away.
The victims, who are 85 and 65 years old, were taken to the hospital and are currently in stable condition, NBC News reports. Meanwhile, charges are pending against the 54-year-old man.
San Francisco resident Patricia Lee, who was working at a fruit stand nearby, told ABC News she saw the knife-carrying man approach the women at a bus stop.
“It was a pretty big knife, it had knuckles on the handle and the blade had holes in there like a military knife,” Lee described. “Her back was turned and all I see was the feathers coming out of her jacket, so I’m very sure that she got sliced.”
The attack arrives amid a rise in hatecrimes against Asian Americans. Last month, the Senate passed a bill that makes moderate moves to help law enforcement and communities tackle this issue.
