Writer Salman Rushdie was attacked on a lecture stage in New York
New York State Police said Salman Rushdie, an Indian-origin writer who received death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked Friday morning in New York by a man who rushed to the stage where the author was supposed to speak.
Police said Rushdie was helicoptered to a local hospital with a knee in his neck.
Police have detained Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old man from Fair View, New Jersey, as a suspect.
A motive has not yet been established, State Police Major Eugene Stanizevsky said at a news conference Friday evening.
The world-renowned author, who is 75, was attending a lecture series at the Chautauqua Institution as a guest speaker when the incident took place.
A male suspect attacked the stage and attacked Rushdie and an interviewer at around 11 p.m. ET, according to a police statement.
The suspect was immediately taken into custody and Rushdie was taken to a local hospital. Stanizewski said Rushdie was having surgery and his condition is unknown at this time.
He also said that interviewer Henry Reese was treated at a local hospital for a minor head injury and has since been released.