According to a police statement, “The investigation revealed that the victim, who is a rabbi, was walking on the sidewalk when he encountered the suspect.” The suspect, identified as 47-year-old Junior Michael Reece, allegedly swung the wooden stake at the rabbi, striking him for “unknown reasons.”

Police in Maryland are investigating an attack on a rabbi as a hate crime after a man attacked with a wooden stake, authorities said.

A hate crime is under investigation in Montgomery County after a rabbi was attacked by a 47-year-old man with a wooden stake near several places of worship. Junior Michael Reese, who has no fixed address,