Someone carrying a sword reportedly cut off an elderly man’s hand Saturday in Riverside, California, and locals are helping him recover.
Riverside law enforcement received multiple calls that evening when the hand was found lying on a sidewalk at 5th Street and Fairmount Boulevard, NBC News reported Monday.
Video footage shows a grocery cart that had been turned over and a blurred image of what appeared to be the hand:
“We may get calls of somebody with a sword but not actually using it and cutting someone’s hand off,” Riverside Police Officer Ryan Railsback told ABC 7.
Following the discovery, a hospital told officials it admitted a man in his 60s whose hand was missing. The man reportedly said it had been cut off by a person with a sword.
Officials say the man is expected to survive and they are looking for leads in the case.
The victim and the individual with the sword, whom authorities have not yet identified, are apparently homeless and know each other, according to Railsback. He said it is possible the assault was the result of a dispute between the two.
“If someone were to upset him he would probably argue with them, but he would never get into a violent altercation like that,” Nikki Hernandez, who works at a local restaurant and is a friend of the victim, explained.
“He’s going to be okay, thank goodness. So we’re starting a GoFundMe for him so we can help him get better,” she said.
As of Tuesday morning, the page had raised $1,088 of its $2,000 goal.
“Jeffrey a very lovely person was brutally and savagely attacked by an unknown assailant which unfortunately cost him to lose his hand. This happened on the corner of 5th street and Fairmount ave In Riverside, California. The unknown suspect used a sword to attack him,” the page reads.
“Everyone that knows Jeffrey Knows that he’s a very sweet, polite, and caring person. unfortunately Jeffrey is homeless and we fear he will not have a safe and clean place to recover after being released,” it continued, then asked for assistance in helping him recover.
“If anybody has information contact the Riverside police department. Thank you for your help!” the page said.
Meanwhile, a recent report from the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) found that homelessness is one of the top issues the state’s residents worry about, according to Breitbart News. “A 2019 report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found the state was ‘entirely’ responsible for a national uptick in homelessness that was observed in January of that year.”