A chef was killed in a frenzied hammer attack after a man walked into a New York restaurant and launched an assault.
The attack happened shortly after 5pm on Tuesday when an assailant entered the Seaport Buffet in Brooklyn.
Police said one 34-year-old man has died while two other restaurant employees aged 60 and 50 were injured in the horrific assault.
A 34-year-old suspect has been detained after being discovered two blocks from the scene of the crime and will undergo a psychiatric investigation.
Workers and customers fled the scene as the incident unfolded, some running into eatery Randazzo’s Clam Bar across the road.
Its owner Samantha Randazzo told ABC News: "We let them in and they said a guy came in crazy with a hammer and started hammering random people.
"One of the workers came in here and said he started screaming and went crazy."
Workers there locked the door in fear as they did not know where the attacker was.
"We tried helping people who were trying to come in, customers, but we were scared to even walk out," Ms Randazzo told NBC New York. "We didn't know where he was."
It was reported the attacker was screaming “crazy things” as they launched their fatal blows.
A police source told the New York Daily News it was an unprovoked attack and authorities have still not indicated any motive.
A hammer was recovered from the scene.
