Sikh truck driver stabbed 17 times at Wyoming rest stop, suspect held

A Sikh truck driver was stabbed at a Wyoming rest area while travelling to Pennsylvania. The assault has intensified concern over rising anti-South Asian hate in the US.

In Short

• Singh was heading to Pennsylvania when he halted at Bitter Creek
• Doctors in Casper treated wounds to his arms, chest and rib cage
• Court papers say witnesses photographed the fleeing suspect's truck details

A Sikh truck driver was stabbed multiple times at a rest area in south Wyoming in the US early on Sunday, in an attack that has drawn sharp concern amid rising anti-South Asian rhetoric in the country. The trucker, identified only as Singh, was on his way to Pennsylvania when he stopped at the Bitter Creek Rest Area, local media reported.

Singh was later airlifted to Wyoming Medical Centre in Casper and is recovering from his injuries, according to the Cowboy State Daily. The Sacramento Bee reported that the attacker, identified as Andrew Kris Bzdak, stabbed him 17 times in his arms, chest and rib cage. Bzdak has been arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder, a felony under Wyoming law that carries the possibility of life imprisonment.

Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi said he was horrified by the attack on the Sikh truck driver. "This comes amid rising hatred targeting Sikh and South Asian Americans, with even the Trump Department of Homeland Security recently posting a racist caricature of a Sikh truck driver telling him to 'get off our roads' and 'self-deport or find out'," Krishnamoorthi said.

Local media reports said Singh's life was saved by a Hispanic family that happened to be at the rest area and tried to tend to his wounds and seek medical help. Court documents accessed by local media also said a family at the rest area heard the attack, saw a man run from the building and then followed his semi-truck long enough to photograph identifying information.

The attack has come at a time of what Stop AAPI Hate, a group that tracks hate acts against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, described as a significant national rise in hateful rhetoric targeting South Asians. Singh remains in recovery after the stabbing, while Bzdak faces an attempted first-degree murder charge.

With PTI Inputs

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