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Armed man attacks Jewish day camp in Queens

The suspect has an extensive criminal history, including dozens of prior arrests and documented mental-health incidents.

By Corey Walker, The Algemeiner

A hammer-wielding man entered a Jewish day camp in Queens on Tuesday and injured an 8-year-old child, further rattling a Jewish community already on edge after a string of violent incidents and amid criticism that Mayor Zohran Mamdani has failed to confront the city’s worsening climate of antisemitism.

The attack occurred at a summer camp operating on the campus of the Lev Leviev School, also known as Queens Gymnasia, in Forest Hills.

According to police and witnesses, the suspect entered the property carrying a hammer and shoved the child into a fence, causing a head injury.

The child was transported to a nearby hospital with injuries that authorities said were not life-threatening.

Camp counselors and security personnel quickly confronted the suspect and tackled him before police arrived.

During the struggle, officials said, the man bit one of the counselors. Officers recovered the hammer and took the suspect into custody. Charges are pending.

Police are investigating the circumstances of the attack, including whether it was motivated by antisemitic bias, but have not yet established a motive.

Queens Shmira, a volunteer Jewish public-safety organization that responded to the scene, said the suspect appeared to be emotionally disturbed and that there was no immediate evidence the incident constituted a hate crime.

According to law-enforcement sources, the suspect has an extensive criminal history, including dozens of prior arrests and documented mental-health incidents. Authorities said he had recently been released following an unrelated arrest.

The attack prompted a large emergency response and heightened concern among parents and staff.

Local officials praised the camp’s security personnel and counselors, saying their swift intervention likely prevented more serious injuries.

The incident comes amid a series of attacks that has left many Jewish New Yorkers increasingly fearful.

Last week, two men, one of them Jewish, were stabbed without apparent provocation on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

Witnesses alleged that the attacker shouted “Allahu Akbar” during the assault, though police have not publicly confirmed a bias motive.

Anti-Jewish offenses continued to dominate New York City’s hate-crime statistics during the first half of 2026.

The NYPD recorded 178 confirmed anti-Jewish hate crimes, accounting for 55.3 percent of all confirmed hate crimes citywide, even though Jews comprise roughly 10 percent of the city’s population.

By comparison, police recorded 21 anti-Muslim hate crimes and 33 targeting people on the basis of sexual orientation, meaning anti-Jewish incidents outnumbered anti-Muslim offenses by more than eight to one.

The violence has intensified scrutiny of Mamdani’s relationship with the Jewish community. Jewish leaders have repeatedly accused the mayor of contributing to a hostile atmosphere through his rhetoric about Israel and his reluctance to forcefully condemn slogans widely regarded as threatening by Jewish New Yorkers.

Moshe Spern, president of United Jewish Teachers, recently warned that “inflammatory rhetoric” from Mamdani could “incite further hostility or targeting of Jewish institutions.”