Levi Yitzchak Rosenblat, the rabbinical student who was wounded early Tuesday morning in a knifing attack in the synagogue at Chabad-Lubavitch Headquarters in Brooklyn, N.Y., is alert and resting in the intensive-care unit of the Bellevue Hospital Center in Manhattan.
At 1:37 a.m. on Tuesday, while deeply engrossed in his studies at the synagogue, the 22-year-old from Israel was brutally stabbed in the head by a man wielding a knife who had entered the building earlier in the day, 49-year-old Calvin Peters.
According to one witness, the perpetrator was heard repeatedly saying: “Kill the Jews!” A group of individuals immediately intervened to stop him from stabbing more students, using tables and chairs to obstruct his path.
Rosenblat ran out of the building on his own seeking help. Police arrived soon afterwards, and ordered Peters to put his weapon down. At first, he did, but then picked the knife up again and charged at one of the officers, who fired once. Peters was later pronounced dead at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn.
Chabad-Lubavitch officials are continuing to work closely with the authorities in their ongoing investigation.
Rosenblat was treated at the scene by paramedics and rushed to Brooklyn’s Kings County Hospital, a level-one trauma center, for treatment. Once there, concerns arose among medical staff about the extent of the damage to his head—the knife had fractured his skull and penetrated his brain—and he underwent testing there.
Doctors were concerned that Rosenblat may have had a vascular issue in the brain and transferred him to Bellevue, where they have specialists who deal with neurovascular issues.
An angiogram performed by medical staff revealed a laceration, which they succesfully repaired during the same procedure. Rosenblat was intubated for the procedure, which did not require an induced coma.
Following the procedure, Rosenblat regained consciousness; his tube was removed a short while later. On Tuesday night, he had a phone conversation with his parents, who were very happy to hear from him. His mother is on the way to New York from their home in Beitar Illit, Israel, just south of Jerusalem.
Rosenblat’s medical team said they are pleased with his progress, and that his recovery is headed in a positive direction.
Family and friends are asking for continued prayers for the speedy recovery of Levi Yitzchak ben Raizel.
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