OH police kill man who allegedly attacked people with machete

Police killed a suspect who attacked an OH restaurant’s patrons with a machete as they sat eating their meals Thursday night.

The attacker – identified by several law enforcement sources as Mohamed Barry – had asked a worker at the Nazareth Restaurant and Deli where owner Hany Baransi was from, investigators said. When he returned, he approached a couple sitting just inside the door and began slashing them and other patrons with a machete, killing none but sending four people to the hospital.

Police wouldn’t immediately say how many people were hurt, or give information about the extent of the injuries.

The son of a gunman who fatally shot two Maryland sheriff’s deputies before he was killed in a shootout says his father was a heavy drinker with emotional problems, but never spoke poorly of police.

After an ineffective attempt to taser him, the man lunged at officers with the weapons and was shot multiple times.

As officers converged on the suspect, he exited the vehicle with a knife in one hand and a machete in the other, according to police.

The suspect was seen 30 to 45 minutes earlier entering the restaurant and speaking with an employee.

It remained unclear what sparked the attacks.

“There was no rhyme or reason as to who he was going after”, Columbus Police Department spokesman Sergeant Rich Weiner told WCMH-TV. People started throwing chairs at the man to drive him away. At least four people were wounded with two reportedly in critical condition.

“A gentleman came in with a machete and started hacking at people”, one male witness said. CBS News homeland security correspondent Jeff Pegues reported that the suspect, whose name has not been released, is believed to be Somalian and may have traveled to the Middle East in 2012. The FBI is assisting police in investigating the man’s recent past and possible motives. Weiner said that restaurant employees and customers have said they did not recognize the attacker.

“I had gotten a text about the guy with the machete, at McCutcheon and Morse Crossing which is right where I live”, she said.

According to The Associated Press, a sign at the restaurant greets patrons with a common Arabic greeting, “Ahlan Wa Sahlan”, meaning roughly, “You are welcome to our place”.

He left, came back at around 6 p.m. and then attacked a man and woman at a booth just inside the door, Weiner said.