Sword Attack Occurs In Downtown Pittsburgh Hotel

PITTSBURGH, PA — A man was arrested early Thursday following a sword attack on a person at the Wyndham Grand Hotel in Downtown Pittsburgh, police said.

Police responded to reports of a someone bleeding and screaming in a hotel hallway shortly after 1 a.m. They located the victim in the lobby and noted there was blood on the fifth floor and walls.

A witness said that he, the victim and another man had come to Pittsburgh for the popular Anthrocon Convention and were in the suspect's hotel room when the attack occurred.

The suspect, Jake O' Leary, 26, of Greensville, South Carolina, whom the witness described as a friend, began yelling something like, "Allah does not approve." O'Leary left the room, returned with a sword and began swinging it and the room's other occupants.

The victim suffered a severe cut on the hand that required treatment at a nearby hospital.

O'Leary, who also was in town for the Anthrocon Convention, was charged with aggravated assault and taken to the Allegheny County Jail. He faces a July 15 preliminary hearing.