A man in the French town of Bourdon said he stabbed his neighbour because he “wanted to kill a Jew”.

The victim, a 58-year-old man, was stabbed 15 times in his stomach and face. He was injured in the liver and gallbladder and underwent surgery, according to a French media report.

The victim, a former primary school principal, was saved by a friend who was with him at the time of the assault and managed to restrain the attacker.

The perpetrator, 18, told witnesses that he “wanted to kill a Jew.” He has been indicted for attempted murder due to race or ethnicity.

He also attacked two policemen responsible for monitoring him while attempting to escape from a hospital where he was scheduled to undergo hand surgery. The injuries were sustained in the attempt by the victim’s friend to restrain him.

However, police have not released any further information about the attacker.

The attack happened on 8 April in the small town of Bourdon, in the Somme, northern France.

The National Bureau for Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism said in a statement that the crime is reminiscent of the attack on Sarah Halimi, a 66-year-old Jewish teacher and physician whom prosecutors say was murdered by her Muslim neighbour in April 2017 partly because she was Jewish and the death of Mireille K., a Jewish woman whose body was found burnt and stabbed in her Paris apartment and whose neighbour had threatened to burn her.

Source: France3