ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — The FBI is investigating a stabbing in Virginia in which the suspect shouted “Allahu akbar” while attacking a man and woman.
Wasil Farooqui of Roanoke County is charged in the stabbings at The Pines Apartments in Roanoke on Saturday. Roanoke County police say that during the attack Farooqui was yelling “Allahu akbar,” which is Arabic for “God is great.”
Roanoke County police have said they believe that the attack was random.
The 20-year-old Farooqui is charged with two counts of aggravated malicious wounding and is being held without bond at the Western Virginia Regional Jail. Online court records did not list an attorney.
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More details are available from ABC News:
In the past year, he traveled to Turkey and may have tried to sneak into Syria, where ISIS is recruiting and inspiring sympathizers from across the world, sources said.
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During the Saturday stabbing, Farooqui allegedly injured a man and woman at an apartment complex in Roanoke, yelling “Allah Akbar” as he attacked them with a knife, sources told ABC News.
Authorities believe he may have been trying to behead the male victim, who was likely picked at random, ABC News was told.
Read the rest of the story here.
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According to the Daily Mail, Farooqui is a U.S.-born citizen. His alleged, vicious attack caused his two victims to suffer “permanent impairment,” jail records stated.