Overview

• A customer allegedly returned to Baladna Bakery on July 31 and slashed brothers Abed and Mohammad Assad with a box cutter while complaining about receiving an eggplant sandwich instead of an egg sandwich in 2021.
• Abed and Mohammad Assad were treated at St. Joseph’s Medical Center for arm and chest wounds and released with non-life-threatening injuries.
• Investigators say the unidentified suspect fled on foot and remain at large as police conduct an active manhunt in Paterson.
• Baladna Bakery has remained closed since the attack, disrupting the family-run business in a neighborhood where such violence is rare.
• Witnesses report the suspect visited the bakery days before the stabbing and asked for the Assad brothers by name, indicating a possible premeditated attack.