Not that being “red-flagged” by the Feds means anything for a “refuge”/immigrant. They have more rights than native born citizens. They have the right to come to this country and attack Americans citizens.
After chasing a suspect in a vicious machete attack at a Northeast Side restaurant, police realized from a computer alert that the suspect's car had been flagged by authorities. The information in that alert led them to call in federal anti-terrorism officials. They also called the bomb squad.
Police eventually shot the suspect, Mohamed Barry, 30, who was accused of injuring four people in the attack Thursday night. Barry died a short time later. Police say he lunged at them with a machete in one hand and a knife in the other.
The move to call in federal authorities was tied to “something that’s in the (computer) system that came back about the vehicle and this person,” said Sgt. Rich Weiner, Columbus police spokesman, referring questions about the nature of the computer alert to the FBI.
Police Chief Kim Jacobs referred all questions related to a potential terrorist connection or hate crime to the FBI.
“He had an address here in Columbus,” Jacobs said. “I don’t think we know where he was born at this point in time.”
FBI officials in the Cincinnati office couldn't be reached for comment, and those in Washington, D.C., said the agency is assisting Columbus police but had no further information.
“The FBI will be doing their own separate investigation,” Jacobs said. “I don’t know what they’re specifically going to be investigating, but they will be investigating the suspect and what his motivations might have been.”
The decision to bring in federal authorities came because of “the nature of the assault, what we’ve seen around the country and internationally,” said police Deputy Chief Mike Woods, of the department’s homeland-security subdivision. The bomb squad was called in as a precaution, Woods said.
Asked whether Columbus police suspect terrorism, Jacobs said: “We certainly understand that those possibilities are out there in this day and age.”
The mayhem began around 6 p.m. Thursday, when police say Barry walked into the Nazareth Mediterranean Cuisine restaurant and began hacking at patrons with the machete.
“Everyone just ran out of the restaurant as fast as we could,” one woman told 911 operators as she hid with her two young children in the restroom of a Tim Hortons next door.
“He came in and immediately attacked a man on the right,” another 911 caller said of the attack in the restaurant. “My kids were in there. We dragged kids and we left.”
One woman was hiding in a back room bleeding from a hand, her husband told 911. “She called in a panic crying,” the man said. “She’s totally hysterical right now.”
No one was killed by Barry, but four people were taken to hospitals. The 911 tapes indicate that someone’s fingers might have been severed. Transported to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center were:
• William Foley, 54, who was in critical but stable condition Friday.
• Neil McMeekin, 42, who was treated then released.
• Gerald Russell, 43, and Debbie Russell, also 43, a husband and wife who were dining together. They were in stable condition.
Hany Baransi, the owner of the Nazareth restaurant, said a restaurant employee ended the attack by retrieving a baseball bat from behind the counter and going after Barry.
Barry fled in a Toyota Corolla. Officers spotted the car about 5 miles away.
Barry's vehicle almost hit a police cruiser and then ran head-on into a Mercedes on Morse Road near Stelzer Road. The driver of that car told 911 he briefly chased Barry's vehicle to get the license-plate number. "He has a knife in his car, he has a weapon," he said. "My wife said it was like a sword."
The suspect was finally stopped just off Stelzer Road, south of Montclair Drive.
Barry jumped out the passenger door and was confronted by four or five officers, who first tried to use a Taser on him, police said. Officer John Johnson, who was working special duty at Easton Town Center when he joined the chase, shot Barry after he lunged at the officers with the machete and knife, according to a police account.
Foley, the victim most seriously injured, is a musician who was performing at the restaurant, as he did most Thursday evenings. J. Thomas Davis, who has made and repaired stringed instruments in Columbus for decades, said Foley is loved by fans and those who hire him to play.
"Unlike a lot of musicians, he knows what his job is," Davis said. "He's there on time, he's prepared, and he pleases his customers."
Pete Cary, who sometimes plays bass guitar with the Bill Foley Band, said Foley is known for his "encyclopedic" knowledge of music and lyrics from the 1950s, '60s and '70s.
Of reports that Foley was injured while trying to stop Barry from attacking others, Cary said, "That would be very like Bill."
A GoFundMe page for Foley had raised nearly $10,000 by early Friday evening.
Foley was cut across the stomach and underwent surgery Thursday night, Baransi said.
He described Foley as “gentle” and “like a brother to me.” He has been playing shows at Baransi’s restaurant for about seven years.
Friday afternoon, after visiting Foley at the hospital, Baransi said: "He's out of it. He has a lot of different things to deal with. Needs a lot of prayers."
“I wish that guy attacked me,” he said. “Bill is gentle. He would not hurt a fly.”
Baransi said he thinks his business was targeted because he is an Israeli. Baransi said his family is Israeli, Christian and Arab.
The restaurant is closed while police investigate the attack, and Baransi said he isn’t sure when it will reopen.
“Obviously I cannot do it on my own,” he said. “I need to see if (the staff members) still like me, if they still want to work for me.”
Dispatch Reporters Mary Mogan Edwards, Earl Rinehart and Rick Rouan contributed to this story.
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