Wasil Rafat Farooqi is a 20-year-old American man who carried out an ISIS-inspired attack by attempting to stab two people in the town of Roanoke, Virginia. He was captured after he entered the emergency room of the same hospital as the victims he attempted to murder. He is being held without bond. ^[undefined] In the past, Farooqi has traveled as far as Turkey to try to join ISIS in Syria. ^[undefined]

Attempted Knife Assault

On August 20th, 2016, at around 8:00 p.m., a call was reported that a male and female were attacked as they entered the apartment building by Farooqui who yelled, "Allah Akbar!".

The male and female were attacked with a knife and the male was able to fight off Farooqui who fled the scene with injuries of his own.

The victims were taken to a nearby hospital as Roanoke County Police Department searched the area for the attacker. ^[undefined]

At the hospital, Farooqui came to the emergency room suffering his own injuries, and he fit the description of the stabber.

Through further investigation by the police, an arrest of Farooqui was made.

Police claim Farooqui didn't know the victims he stabbed and that the attack was random.

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The Federal Bureau Investigation has launched a terrorist investigation of the stabbing. They are seeking to find out whether the stabber was trying to behead his victims in an alleged ISIS assault inspired by the numerous beheadings on journalists that the terrorist organization conducted in the past couple of days.

The federal authorities claim they have known about Farooqui for some time as he had traveled to Turkey and tried to sneak into Syria, where ISIS recruits and inspires sympathizers all over the world.

Farooqui is being held without bond at the Western Virginia Regional Jail.

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Authorities believe that Farooqui is self-radicalized, and are unsure whether he is a United States citizen. ^[undefined]