Rabbi stabbed outside Jewish day school in Brighton, local man arrested

BOSTON — Security has been increased at a Jewish day school in Brighton after a rabbi was stabbed multiple times outside the building on Thursday afternoon. A few hours later, police announced that they had arrested a 24-year-old Brighton man in connection with the stabbing.

That suspect has been identified as Khaled Awad, 24. He has been charged with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, assault and battery on a police officer and attempted robbery.

Police also said Awad was carrying a fake firearm.

The victim in the non-fatal stabbing is Rabbi Shlomo Noginski, who was attacked on the street outside Shaloh House, a religious institution serving the Boston-area’s Russian Jewish community, said Rabbi Dan Rodkin, executive director of Shaloh House in Brighton, in a letter to the community.

“He is, thank God, in stable condition and being treated in the hospital for stab wounds to his arm,” Rodkin said of the victim.

The religious facility “went into lockdown to ensure the safety of all the children and staff” as its summer camp was happening when the attack occurred, Rodkin said.

Police were called to Chestnut Hill Avenue and Washington Street in Brighton where they found the rabbi with stab wounds. The Anti-Defamation League of New England said the stabbing happened right in front of the building, and that police are investigating the motive.

The victim suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

“We are all very shaken by what happened and ask for you to please keep Rabbi Noginski in your prayers,” Rodkin said.

Thursday’s attack on the rabbi occurred five days after a deadly shooting rocked a Winthrop neighborhood and left two bystanders dead on Saturday, and the gunman later killed by police. Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins said that shooting is being investigated as a hate crime and that the gunman, 28-year-old Nathan Allen, wrote “anti-Semitic and racist statements against Black individuals.”

Saturday’s victims were identified as 68-year-old David Green, a retired Massachusetts State Police trooper, and Ramona Cooper, a 60-year-old Air Force veteran who still worked with the military. Both victims were Black and shot multiple times.

Awad is expected to be arraigned in Brighton District Court.

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