BOSTON (CBS) – A rabbi is recovering at Boston Medical Center after he stabbed outside a Brighton synagogue Thursday afternoon.
Boston Police were called to Shaloh House on Chestnut Hill Ave. around 1 p.m. Rabbi Shlomo Noginski was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries and a suspect was taken into custody.
I-Team sources said the suspect was armed with a gun and a knife.
Police investigate a stabbing outside Shaloh House in Brighton. (WBZ-TV)
The rabbi, who is in his 50s, was stabbed multiple times, sources said. Police are still investigating the motive in the attack.
Speaking from his hospital bed, Rabbi Noginski said, “I am grateful to the Boston Police Department for their rapid response, and relieved that the perpetrator is in custody. I am looking forward to returning to my work as soon as possible.”
Rabbi Noginski recovering in the hospital. (Photo Credit: Rabbi Dan Rodkin)
The facility was placed in lockdown after the stabbing. Staff and children were at Shaloh House for a summer camp program, but Rodkin said none were in danger.
Security will be increased at Shaloh House throughout the remainder of the summer, said Dan Rodkin, executive director of the Shaloh House.
“We are all very shaken by what happened and ask for you to please keep Rabbi Noginski in your prayers for a refuah sheleima, speedy and complete recovery (Shlomo ben Zlata Miriam). We are heartened by the outpouring of concern and compassion we have received in just the last hours since the incident,” Rodkin said.
One woman who was walking in the area said her “heart sank” when she heard what had happened.
“Jewish education is important to us, but I also don’t want to have a target on our backs. I’m scared. As a mom, I’m very scared,” she said.
Anti-Defamation League responds to Brighton stabbing
Robert Trestan of the Anti-Defamation League said that while the motive for the attack is not yet known, it still sends fear through the Jewish community.
“It sends a bit of a shockwave through the Jewish community,” Trestan said. “This occurred in a community where many Orthodox Jews live, worship and study. At a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise across the country, and we learn and hear about other people who are Jewish who are attacked in new York and Los Angeles in the last 4-6 weeks, this sends a message of fear through the community.”
