A flight attendant who was critically injured in a frenzied knife attack inside a downtown Los Angeles branch of Target has been hailed a hero after it was revealed that she was only injured after jumping to the rescue of a young boy who was the initial victim of the knife attacker.
The Korean flight attendant remains in a Californian hospital after the assailant plunged a large butcher’s knife into her chest when she stepped between him and 9-year-old Brayden Medina, who had been stabbed in the back as he tried to run away.
Early reports from the scene suggested that the perpetrator first attacked Brayden before roaming the store in search of another victim. It now appears that the flight attendant, who was on a layover is Los Angeles after flying in from Seoul, rushed to the aid of Brayden and, in doing so, helped save his life.
At the request of the airline that employs the victim, the 24-year-old female flight attendant remains unidentified, and few details of the attack have yet to be made public.
The attacker, a local homeless man, entered the Target store at the 700 block of S. Figueroa Street at around 6:20 pm on November 15. Investigators say the man grabbed a butcher’s knife from the shelf and launched what they describe as a “seemingly unprovoked” attack on Brayden, stabbing him twice in the back.
Brayden’s cousin Lizzette Molina says it’s believed the flight attendant then intervened to save Brayden’s life.
“God bless her soul, my prayers go out to her and my heart to her family,” Lizzette said on a Go Fund Me page set up to help pay for Brayden’s hospital bills.
Other shoppers dragged the injured flight attendant to safety while the assailant moved towards the front of the store, where he attempted to attack a security guard with the knife.
In a statement, the Los Angeles Police Department said the security guard shot the attacker “in an effort to stop his deadly actions.” The perpetrator died at the scene.
The flight attendant remains in the hospital in a critical but stable condition.
