A passenger aboard a flight from Chicago to Germany allegedly stabbed two teens with a fork, slapped a female passenger and gestured suicide during a wild, unprovoked rampage that led pilots to make an emergency landing in Boston Saturday.
First, the 28-year-old master’s student from India, Praneeth Kumar Usiripalli, stood over a 17-year-old passenger who was asleep following meal service and lunged at him with a metal fork, striking him in the left clavicle, the US Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts announced Monday.
Usiripalli then stabbed another 17-year-old on board Lufthansa flight 431 en route to Frankfurt in the back of the head using the same fork, according to the attorney’s office.
When the flight crew tried to subdue Usiripalli, “he formed a gun with his fingers, put it in his mouth and pulled the trigger,” prosecutors said.
The grad student then turned to his left and slapped a female passenger with his hand before trying to slap another member of the crew, the office alleged.
The second teen targeted suffered a laceration to the back of his head in the freak attack, prosecutors said.
The flight was diverted to Boston Logan International Airport, where Usiripalli was immediately taken into custody, authorities added.
Usiripalli is an Indian national who “does not have lawful status in the United States,” according to prosecutors.
He was previously admitted to the United States on a student visa and was most recently enrolled in a master’s program in biblical studies, federal authorities said.
Usiripalli was charged in US District Court with one count of assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm while traveling on an aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States, authorities added.
If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
He will appear in federal court in Boston on a later date, prosecutors added.
Lufthansa did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
The post Unhinged foreign master’s student allegedly stabbed 2 teens with fork, slapped passenger on Chicago flight to Germany appeared first on New York Post.
