An American tourist was "stabbed in the face" while protecting two women from an attack on a tram in Germany.
John Rudat, a 21-year-old part-time model and newly qualified paramedic from upstate New York, was rushed to the hospital on early Sunday morning (August 24) after suffering knife wounds to his face.
According to a GoFundMe created by his brother's girlfriend, Molly Sheldon, Rudat stopped two girls from being violently assaulted on German public transit in the city of Dresden. In the process, he sustained a severe gash across the middle of his face from a six-inch blade.
Friends and family have described their shock at the brutal incident. “We got a little scared when we found out,” Molly, a fellow first responder, told the New York Post.
“We didn’t know the extent of his injuries. We were at dinner the other day and he called saying, ‘Hey, I’ve been in an incident, I’m OK, just if you can notify my parents because they weren’t answering the phone," she added.
Authorities said two men were involved in the attack. One was detained on suspicion of beating Rudat but was released shortly after.
“According to the on-call public prosecutor’s assessment, there were insufficient grounds for detention. The knife attack cannot be attributed to him,” Senior Public Prosecutor Jurgen Schmidt told Bild.
The other suspect, believed to be the man who carried out the stabbing, remains at large.
"This horrible act against John leaves us devastated and seeking justice. He now faces a challenging recovery; physically, emotionally, and even financially as he works to heal from this incident," Sheldon wrote.
The New York Post reported that Rudat was visiting Germany to see his former foreign exchange host family.
The victim claimed the person who attacked him and the two women was a drug dealer who was "very popularly known" in the area, and criticized law enforcement for letting one of the men go due to a lack of evidence.
“This is not the first time this has happened. It’s not the first time that man has beaten up women, and it’s not the first time that the other guy decided to take a swing at my face with a six-inch blade,” he said. “If they could do this to the people and then just get released 12 hours later, even less at this point, where’s the law? Where’s the structure?"
The U.S. Embassy in Germany issued a sharp statement urging justice. “We strongly condemn the brutal attack on an American citizen in Dresden. While courageously intervening to protect a fellow passenger, he was viciously attacked.
“We urge German authorities to swiftly bring the perpetrators to justice and punish them to the fullest extent permitted by law. Safety is a collective responsibility - no one is safe until all are safe," they added.