Columbus, OH police stumped on reason for machete attack by guy named Mohamed

[Bleak Morn]

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/machete-attack-nazareth-restaurant-columbus-ohio-stabbing/

 

Last Updated Feb 12, 2016 2:28 PM EST

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Police shot and killed a man who stormed into a central Ohio restaurant wielding a machete and randomly attacking people as they sat unsuspectingly at their dinner tables, authorities said.

 

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Four people were injured in the brutal attack Thursday evening at Nazareth Restaurant and Deli, a Mediterranean restaurant in Columbus. The victims were taken to an area hospital and were expected to recover.

Police identified the suspected attacker as Mohamed Barry, 30.

CBS News homeland security correspondent Jeff Pegues reports that investigators were running down leads to try to determine if the attack was somehow tied to terrorist organizations.

"There was no rhyme or reason as to who he was going after," said Columbus police Sgt. Rich Weiner.

Police said the man walked into the restaurant, had a conversation with an employee and then left. He returned about a half hour later. That's when police said he approached a man and a woman who were sitting just inside the door at a booth and started the attack.

Pegues reports the suspected attacker has a Somali background, and officials believe he may have traveled to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates in 2012. Pegues reports that law enforcement is concerned that this incident has the hallmarks of the type of so-called "lone wolf" terrorist attack that they have been working to stop.

Police said employees and patrons tried to get the man to stop.

"Some of the patrons there started throwing chairs at him just trying to get him out of there," Weiner said.

The man eventually fled the scene in a white car and led police on a short chase. Officers forced the man off the road a few miles away and when he got out of his car police said they tried unsuccessfully to use a stun gun on him.

Weiner said, "At that point he had a machete and another knife in his hand and he lunged across the hood at the officers."

That's when police said an officer shot and killed the man.

It remained unclear what sparked the attacks.

"Right now there's nothing that leads us to believe that this is anything but a random attack," said Weiner.

Police said four people were treated at Grant Medical Center. William Foley, 54, was in critical but stable condition. Gerald Russell and Debbie Russell, both 43, were in stable condition. Neil McMeekin, 43, was treated and released.

Karen Bass, who told CBS affiliate WBNS-10TV that she had only been in the restaurant for about half an hour when the attack occurred, described a scene of chaos.

"He came to each table and just started hitting them," she told WBNS. "There were tables and chairs overturned, there was a man on the floor bleeding, there was blood on the floor."

"I fell like five times. My legs felt like jelly. I just thought he was going to come behind me and slash me up," she said, describing her frantic escape.

 

[RCali]

Almost every day, now, I see news of muslims murderering someone. They still have the nerve to say they are random attacks.

[Bleak Morn]

Almost every day, now, I see news of muslims murderering someone. They still have the nerve to say they are random attacks.

 

What's interesting is that the FBI had this guy "red flagged".  My guess is that this means that the guy is a powder-keg and if the police interact with him to expect trouble and if at all possible, have the feds to the interaction for them.  I can check on this a little more with local sources familiar with law enforcement procedures.

 

​Seems ineffective to have powder kegs running around without supervision.

 

​Also, it should be noted that the victims here violated the first rule of a machete fight - bring a gun.

 

[Bleak Morn]

More recent local coverage.

By  Bill Bush 

The Columbus Dispatch   •  Friday February 12, 2016 10:47 PM

 

After chasing a suspect in a vicious machete attack at a Northeast Side restaurant, police realized from a computer alert that the suspect's car had been flagged by authorities. The information in that alert led them to call in federal anti-terrorism officials. They also called the bomb squad.

 

Police eventually shot the suspect, Mohamed Barry, 30, who was accused of injuring four people in the attack Thursday night. Barry died a short time later. Police say he lunged at them with a machete in one hand and a knife in the other.

 

The move to call in federal authorities was tied to “something that’s in the (computer) system that came back about the vehicle and this person,” said Sgt. Rich Weiner, Columbus police spokesman, referring questions about the nature of the computer alert to the FBI.

 

Police Chief Kim Jacobs referred all questions related to a potential terrorist connection or hate crime to the FBI.

 

“He had an address here in Columbus,” Jacobs said. “I don’t think we know where he was born at this point in time.”

 

FBI officials in the Cincinnati office couldn't be reached for comment, and those in Washington, D.C., said the agency is assisting Columbus police but had no further information.

 

“The FBI will be doing their own separate investigation,” Jacobs said. “I don’t know what they’re specifically going to be investigating, but they will be investigating the suspect and what his motivations might have been.”

 

The decision to bring in federal authorities came because of “the nature of the assault, what we’ve seen around the country and internationally,” said police Deputy Chief Mike Woods, of the department’s homeland-security subdivision. The bomb squad was called in as a precaution, Woods said.

 

Asked whether Columbus police suspect terrorism, Jacobs said: “We certainly understand that those possibilities are out there in this day and age.”

 

The mayhem began around 6 p.m. Thursday, when police say Barry walked into the Nazareth Mediterranean Cuisine restaurant and began hacking at patrons with the machete.

 

“Everyone just ran out of the restaurant as fast as we could,” one woman told 911 operators as she hid with her two young children in the restroom of a Tim Hortons next door.

 

>>> Hear the 911 calls after Thursday's machete attack

 

“He came in and immediately attacked a man on the right,” another 911 caller said of the attack in the restaurant. “My kids were in there. We dragged kids and we left.”

 

One woman was hiding in a back room bleeding from a hand, her husband told 911. “She called in a panic crying,” the man said. “She’s totally hysterical right now.”

 

No one was killed by Barry, but four people were taken to hospitals. The 911 tapes indicate that someone’s fingers might have been severed. Transported to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center were:

 

• William Foley, 54, who was in critical but stable condition Friday.

 

• Neil McMeekin, 42, who was treated then released.

 

• Gerald Russell, 43, and Debbie Russell, also 43, a husband and wife who were dining together. They were in stable condition.

 

Hany Baransi, the owner of the Nazareth restaurant, said a restaurant employee ended the attack by retrieving a baseball bat from behind the counter and going after Barry.

 

Barry fled in a Toyota Corolla. Officers spotted the car about 5 miles away.

 

Barry's vehicle almost hit a police cruiser and then ran head-on into a Mercedes on Morse Road near Stelzer Road. The driver of that car told 911 he briefly chased Barry's vehicle to get the license-plate number. "He has a knife in his car, he has a weapon," he said. "My wife said it was like a sword."

 

The suspect was finally stopped just off Stelzer Road, south of Montclair Drive.

 

Barry jumped out the passenger door and was confronted by four or five officers, who first tried to use a Taser on him, police said. Officer John Johnson, who was working special duty at Easton Town Center when he joined the chase, shot Barry after he lunged at the officers with the machete and knife, according to a police account.

 

Foley, the victim most seriously injured, is a musician who was performing at the restaurant, as he did most Thursday evenings. J. Thomas Davis, who has made and repaired stringed instruments in Columbus for decades, said Foley is loved by fans and those who hire him to play.

 

"Unlike a lot of musicians, he knows what his job is," Davis said. "He's there on time, he's prepared, and he pleases his customers."

 

Pete Cary, who sometimes plays bass guitar with the Bill Foley Band, said Foley is known for his "encyclopedic" knowledge of music and lyrics from the 1950s, '60s and '70s.

 

Of reports that Foley was injured while trying to stop Barry from attacking others, Cary said, "That would be very like Bill."

 

A GoFundMe page for Foley had raised nearly $10,000 by early Friday evening.

 

Foley was cut across the stomach and underwent surgery Thursday night, Baransi said.

 

He described Foley as “gentle” and “like a brother to me.” He has been playing shows at Baransi’s restaurant for about seven years.

 

Friday afternoon, after visiting Foley at the hospital, Baransi said: "He's out of it. He has a lot of different things to deal with. Needs a lot of prayers."

 

“I wish that guy attacked me,” he said. “Bill is gentle. He would not hurt a fly.”

 

Baransi said he thinks his business was targeted because he is an Israeli. Baransi said his family is Israeli, Christian and Arab.

 

The restaurant is closed while police investigate the attack, and Baransi said he isn’t sure when it will reopen.

 

“Obviously I cannot do it on my own,” he said. “I need to see if (the staff members) still like me, if they still want to work for me.”

 

Dispatch Reporters Mary Mogan Edwards, Earl Rinehart and Rick Rouan contributed to this story.

 

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@ReporterBush