Italian authorities on Tuesday announced that they identified the alleged attacker who stabbed a 24-year-old Israeli national at Rome's central railway station over the weekend as a homeless Polish man.
The woman was stabbed three times at Rome Termini Train Station in the city center as she was trying to purchase a train ticket to the airport for her flight home. The case was initially suspected to be a botched robbery.
Chomiak stabs Israeli tourist at Rome's Termini station
(Video: Colli 7)
After surveying security footage from several angles, the alleged assailant was identified as 24-year-old Alexander Mateusz Chomiak, a Polish homeless person who has been known to frequent the station. He's originally from Grudziadz, a small city in northern Poland.
The locomotive Chomiak has also been previously spotted in Venice, Livorno, Bari and the northern city of Turin.
The attack is being investigated as a potential hate crime, as the victim was wearing a backpack emblazoned with Jewish symbols and Hebrew writing. The attacker was seen wearing a black baseball cap and dark clothes.
After the incident, the Israeli woman was evacuated to the Policlinico Umberto I hospital in Rome where her injuries were described as substantial but not life-threatening. Her mother and boyfriend are staying by her side.
While the motive for the attack remains unclear, the victim's relatives say she wishes to forget the ordeal and move on.