Screen shot from surveillance video
Police in Seattle Thursday arrested a 41-year-old man accused of swinging a hard object wrapped in a sock into the heads of two people.
“I truly believe he was trying to kill us,” said Michael Poffenbarger, about him and his girlfriend to KOMO News. “He hit her so hard (and) he hit me really really hard. I was amazed at how hard he hit my head and it didn’t knock me out,” said Poffenbarger. “I thought for sure, I had a skull fracture.”
The State identified the other victim as high school teacher Noriko Nasu who suffered fractures to her face and teeth.
The superintendent of the Northshore School District where Nasu works fears the attack may be racially motivated.
“I am writing today to share my concerns regarding the current trend in increasing violence directed at Asian community members both in our state and across our country,” Reid wrote in a blog post, according to The State. “A member of our own Northshore staff family, Sensei Noriko Nasu, was brutally attacked while walking with her partner in Seattle … The police are currently investigating the attack to determine whether it was a hate crime or a random attack, this assault should never have happened.”
Police identified the suspect as Sean Holdip. The Conan Daily reports he is from Brooklyn, but previously lived in Daly City outside San Francisco and in College Park, GA. He previously worked as a emergency medical technician with the New York Fire Department.
According to the Daily, the Fire Department fired him in 2014 after he was accused of making threats against two paramedics after pulling out a three to four inch blade. He lost an appeal in the case last year.
The police bias unit is investigating the crime, but has not concluded it is racially motivated.
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