the chautauqua institution when witnesses say a man jumped onto the stage just as the event was getting underway and began punching and stabbing rushdie. one witness tells cnn she counted roughly seven to ten stabbing motions before fleeing for her own safety. rushdie suffered stab wounds to the income and abdomen according to new york state police and was airlifted to an area hospital. it s a state police officer who stood up and saved his life, protected him as well as the moderator who was attacked as well. reporter: the suspect was quickly taken into custody. new york state police identified him as 24-year-old hadim matar. there was a lot of screaming and crying and everything, people rushing from the audience up on the stage. reporter: the 75-year-old author was born in mumbai and later moved to the uk. rushdie is accustomed to living
a ventilator tonight. rushdie was stabbed at least once in the neck and once in the abdomen while on stage in western new york state. just moments before he was set to give a lecture. the attack comes after years of death threats. reporter: famed author salman rushdie was scheduled to speak at a lecture series when witnesses say a man jumped on to the stage just as the event was getting under way and began punching and stabbing rushdie. one witness tells cnn she counted roughly seven to ten stabbing motions before fleeing for her own safety. rushdie suffered stab wounds to the neck and abdomen according to new york state police. and was air lifted to an area hospital. a state police officer who stood up and saved his life, protected him.
salman will likely lose one eye, the nerves in his arm were severed, his liver was stabbed and damaged. cnn s shimon prokupecz has more on the attack and the investigation. reporter: famed author salman rushdie was scheduled to speak at a lecture series at the chautauqua institution when witnesses say a man jumped onto the stage just as the event was getting under way and began punching and stabbing rushdie. one witness tells cnn she counted roughly seven to ten stabbing motions before fleeing for her own safety. rushdie suffered stab wounds to the neck and abdomen, according to new york state police, and was airlifted to an area hospital. it was a state police officer who stood up and saved his life, protected him. [ applause ] as well as the moderator who was attacked as well. reporter: the suspect was
tonight prosecutors say the attack was targeted and preplanned by 24-year-old. they said he bought an advance ticket to the event where he was speaking. at the same time he arrived a day early with a fake id. he pled not guilty to second-degree attempted murder and assault charges. the fbi raided his home in fairview, new jersey. while his motive is unclear local nbc new york reports a preliminary review of social media shows he is sympathetic to extremism and to iran s revolutionary guard. this is new video emerges showing just seconds after he was attacked on stage at the institute in new york yesterday. more than a dozen audience moms including a doctor ran on stage to help. fell to the floor with a sound punched or stabbed about 15 times for the suspect was arrested by the state police officer assigned to the events for the 75-year-old renowned novelist lived under the weight of death threats for more than 30 years after he published the
at last word rushdie was still in surgery after being stabbed in the neck and abdomen before giving a lecture out in western new york state. shimon prokupecz is following the story for us. reporter: salman rushdie, the famed author who has endured decades of death threats, attacked in western new york friday morning. rushdie was scheduled to speak at a lecture series when witnesses say a man jumped onto the stage just as the event was getting under way and began punching and stabbing rushdie. one witness tells cnn she counted roughly seven to ten stabbing motions before fleeing for her own safety. rushdie suffered stab wounds to the neck and abdomen, according to police. he was airlifted to a local hospital. it was a state police officer who stood up and saved his life, protected him. reporter: the suspect was quickly taken into custody and is identified as 24-year-old