An Indian-origin truck driver has been stabbed 17 times at a Wyoming rest stop after he was allegedly followed into a bathroom, leaving him hospitalised and prompting concern among Indian, particularly Punjabi Sikh, communities in the United States.
The driver, who asked to be identified only by his surname, Singh, told NPR that he had stopped at the Bitter Creek Rest Area along Interstate 80 early Sunday morning while travelling towards Pennsylvania.
Singh said he noticed another man following him into the bathroom before the attacker assaulted him and repeatedly stabbed him, including wounds to his neck and chest.
“I don’t know why this happened,” Singh said from hospital.
“I don’t know why they attacked me.”
Singh managed to leave the bathroom but collapsed outside after suffering multiple injuries.
A family who was at the rest area heard screaming and saw the alleged attacker leave the building and drive away in a truck. The family followed the vehicle along I-80, photographed identifying details and provided the information to police.
Wyoming Highway Patrol later stopped the truck near Rawlins, about 70 miles east of the rest area, and arrested 45-year-old Andrew Kris Bzdak.
Bzdak has been charged with attempted first-degree murder. Police have not established a motive for the attack.
Singh credited the family who came to his assistance with helping save his life.
“They gave me the second life.”
He remained in hospital with multiple injuries as he recovered from the attack. Singh said he was particularly concerned about other Sikh truck drivers who regularly travel across the United States.
“I am just worried … it can happen again.”
The attack comes amid a wider debate over anti-South Asian rhetoric in the US, following a controversial social media post by the Department of Homeland Security depicting an Indian truck driver and using the surname Singh.
Indian-origin US Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi condemned the Wyoming attack, saying he was “horrified” by the stabbing and expressing concern about what he described as rising hatred targeting Indian Americans.
Krishnamoorthi also criticised the recent DHS post, arguing that officials should not contribute to rhetoric that could fuel hostility towards an entire community.
“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.'”
The DHS has rejected any connection between its social media post and the Wyoming stabbing, saying it would not speculate about the motive and describing attempts to blame the agency for the attack as “reckless and false”.
For Singh, the priority now is recovery and returning to work, but the attack has left him shaken.
“I am scared and also upset because I have to work regularly.”
The investigation into the stabbing remains ongoing.
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