Suspect Killed by Police After Stabbing a Man While Screaming ‘I Want to Kill the Jew’

An Israeli student was stabbed early Tuesday morning while praying at the worldwide Chabad Lubavitch headquarters in Crown Heights. According to police, the suspect — who was shot and killed — was screaming “I want to kill the Jew” during the attack.

The New York Daily News reports that the injured Israeli student, 22-year-old Levi Rosenblat, came to Brooklyn a few weeks ago to study at the worldwide headquarters of the Hassidic sect. (The paper lists his name as Rosenviat, but a statement emailed to Intelligencer from the religious group identifies him as Rosenblat.) He is now in stable condition at Kings County Hospital. “I went over to the floor, I saw the teenager on the floor, his hair was blood. He was saying ‘save me,’” a witness told the paper, describing how he found Rosenblat. That witness also said that Peters had scoped out the building about an hour before returning for the attack.

The attack happened a little after 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, and the suspect, Calvin Peters, died at the same hospital at 3:15 a.m. An extended video of the police standoff shows Peters behaving erratically, and seems to show him putting down his knife only to pick it up again. After refusing police commands to “drop the fucking knife,” Peters began moving toward them, and officers eventually fired a single bullet. Afterwards, they are still heard shouting at Peters to drop the knife, before finally apprehending him.

In a statement emailed to Intelligencer, Chabad Lubavitch media relations rep Motti Seligson said the group is “very grateful to the police for their quick response and are working closely with the authorities in their ongoing investigation.”

We commend the heroic efforts of the individuals who were present and took immediate action, if not for their intervention the outcome could have been, G-d forbid far worse,” he said. “We continue to pray for the young man who is in stable condition.”

Man Stabbed Overnight at Crown Heights Chabad HQ