The Federal Bureau of Investigation, or the FBI, is looking into a stabbing incident that took place in Virginia this weekend.
The FBI are probing to determine whether the stabbing of a man and woman in Virginia this past weekend is attributed to ISIS. Law enforcement sources told CBS News Investigative Unit Senior Producer, Pat Milton, that the incident could be a terrorist attack. One of whom believed to have heard the suspect yell ‘Allahu Akbar,’ which is Arabic for God is Great, during the stabbings, while witnesses reported the same thing.
Details of the incident
The suspect has been identified as Wasil Farooqi, 20, of Roanoke County, Virginia. He reportedly stabbed a man and a woman as they entered The Pines Apartments just before 8 p.m. Although the male victim was able to fight off the attacker and escape, he and the woman were still severely wounded and taken to the hospital. The attacker fled the scene only to appear in the same emergency ward as the victims, attending to injuries of his own. According to reports, the suspect met the description of the attacker and after further investigation, police arrested him. Farooqi is charged with two counts of aggravated malicious wounding and is being held without bond at the Western Virginia Regional Jail.
According to a spokesperson for the city of Roanoke, Amy Whitaker, despite earlier reports, she clarified that the attack was not an attempted beheading. Although the male victim suffered numerous gashes across his body, the wounds were not reflective of a beheading attempt.
What is known about the attacker
According to a report given by a US intelligence source to CBS News, the Virginia attacker identified as 20-year-old Wasil Farooqi has been under the FBI’s watch for months. They believe he is self-radicalized, meaning that his actions may be in line with those of the extremist group, but there is yet to be proof that the double-stabbing can be directly linked to ISIS. Also, authorities are not sure if Farooqi is a US citizen.
The source added that Farooqi tried to go to Syria earlier this year but turned back when he got to Europe. Apparently, the trip is what caught law enforcement’s attention. Numerous reports have claimed Farooqi traveled to Turkey to cross the Syrian border and join ISIS, before returning to the States. The reasons why he did not make it to his assumed destination are unknown.
Furthermore, ISIS has not claimed the attack. Thus authorities are still unsure if the extremist group was behind the incident. However, many media reports give a different impression.
This uproar in terrorist attacks that have scarred the West has long exposed their vulnerability in the face of extremism. It should also be mentioned that this constant portrayal and resort to violence can fuel many individuals who may already have malicious intentions or may be mentally unstable to act on their killer instincts. Meaning that even if these said individuals are not actually affiliated with ISIS, that may not stop them from carrying out possible acts of terror of their own.
Source: CBS News