A Columbus, Ohio restaurant owner is moving back to his native Israel after his business was attacked by a machete-wielding perpetrator last week, WBNS-10TV reports.
Hany Baransi, owner of Nazareth Restaurant & Deli, told reporters on Thursday he no longer feels safe in the northeast Columbus neighborhood where his restaurant is located.
The business will remain open, although Baransi previously told WBNS-10TV that he planned to close it permanently and his wife is trying to persuade him to change his mind about leaving the United States.
Four customers of Baransi’s were wounded last week when 30-year-old Mohamed Barry slashed them with a machete. Police chased Barry and Barry’s car eventually spun out of control, according to PJ Media.
He reportedly exited the vehicle with both knife and machete and lunged at law enforcement. Police gunned him down at that point. Sources told WBNS that Barry, a Guinea native in the U.S. on a green card, yelled “Allahu Akbar” before shots rang out. Baransi, an Israeli Christian Arab, called the incident an act of terror.
“I come from the Middle East,” he told reporters. “I come from Israel. And, this has been a big thing here. People ask me ‘Where are you from?’ I’m from Israel. Sometimes it offends people. I don’t know but I still am. I’m not going to change. I am what I am.”
In the meantime, however, the Columbus police and the FBI are investigating the attack and have not ruled out terrorism.