An American man has died and another is seriously injured after a knife attack in Portugal on Wednesday.
Authorities in Cascais, a popular coastal town near Lisbon, say one of the two victims, a 34-year-old American man, was walking back to his hotel around 3 a.m. Wednesday when three suspects approached him.
One of the suspects started a verbal altercation, attempting to touch the victim’s hat, then punching him three times in the face when he asked them to stop.
The victim attempted to flee and called his friend, a 35-year-old American man, for help. When his friend arrived a few minutes later, one of the three suspects retrieved a knife from his car and stabbed both men in the face, arms, and back.
The 34-year-old victim sustained deep cuts to his face and chest and was quickly transported to a nearby hospital. His friend died at the scene. Police say the surviving victim is now recovering and is no longer in critical condition.
Meanwhile, all three suspects fled the scene in their car. However, they have since been apprehended. One suspect, a 23-year-old Portuguese man with no criminal record who worked at a nearby bar, has been charged with homicide. The remaining two suspects may face assault charges for their roles in the incident.
The attack was initially reported as an attempted mugging gone wrong. However, police told Portuguese news site Correio de Manhã that they had ruled out robbery, terrorism, and a hate crime as possible motives.
Instead, authorities say, “the events occurred in the context of an altercation between the aggressor and the two victims, initially only verbal and then with physical aggression.”
The State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Portugal did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s requests for comment. However, the State Department previously told CNN it was “aware” of the attack.
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