Andrew Bzdak Stabs Sikh Truck Driver 17 Times at Wyoming Rest Stop

Wyoming stabbing, 17 wounds

A Sikh truck driver was stabbed 17 times in an unprovoked attack at a rest stop in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, after a man followed him into a bathroom at the Bitter Creek rest stop on Interstate 80, according to local officials and court records. CNN reported that the suspect, later identified as Andrew Bzdak, allegedly attacked the driver from behind and stabbed him 17 times with a knife, including twice in the neck and twice in the chest, and that the driver was airlifted to the Wyoming Medical Center in Casper. ABC News said the stabbing happened early Sunday while the victim was in a restroom at the Bitter Creek rest stop, and that he suffered stabs to the neck and chest and over a dozen other cuts but survived.

ABC News also reported that police arrested Andrew Kris Bzdak in nearby Carbon County, Wyoming, and that Bzdak remained jailed on $1 million bond in Rock Springs on suspicion of attempted murder, a crime punishable in Wyoming by up to life in prison. The Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the attack happened just before 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, and CBS News said the driver called 911 and was transported by helicopter to a trauma facility.

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Rhetoric, hate-crime questions

Jasjit Singh, director of legal services for the Sikh community group Jakara Movement, told KOVR that “Now you have this additional fear that, as a South Asian or Punjabi Sikh truck driver, you have to deal with these fears that you may be attacked for how you look,” as advocates warned about inflammatory rhetoric against South Asian truckers.

CNN reported that officials had not yet determined the suspect’s motive and that it was unclear whether the incident was being investigated as a hate crime, while the victim’s lawyer called for a thorough investigation into “any potential hate-crime or civil-rights dimension of this attack.”

FOX40 reported that Jasjit Singh told the station that although the suspect’s motives were not yet known, “it’s quite obvious that there must be some correlation” from the Sikh community’s perspective.

In a statement to CNN, a DHS spokesperson said any attempts to blame the agency “for an unrelated attack is RECKLESS and FALSE. We will not speculate on motives.”

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Recovery, charges, next steps

The victim was taken to a hospital where he spent the last five days in critical condition, FOX40 reported, and the fundraiser organizer Lovepreet Singh wrote Friday that Singh was discharged and that “He still has a long healing process ahead and will continue to need follow-up care, treatment and time to recover.”

CNN said Bzdak is being held on a $1 million bond in the Sweetwater County Detention Center and that he is charged with one count of attempting to commit first-degree murder, while WyoFile reported Bzdak was charged with attempted first-degree murder on Monday and is being held on $1 million bond at the Sweetwater County Detention Center in Rock Springs.

ABC News reported that police were still investigating what prompted the Wyoming attack and that the victim allegedly told police he was trying to use the restroom when he was attacked from behind.

WyoFile quoted Sweetwater County and Prosecuting Attorney Daniel Erramouspe cautioning against making assumptions about the assailant’s motives, saying, “The investigation is still ongoing. We still have a long ways before trial. And so assumptions don’t get anyone further in this case.”

ABC News added that the attack left the U.S. Sikh community newly on edge, with community leaders linking it to debate after deadly crashes involving Sikh truck drivers and to rising anti-immigrant vitriol against the community and its truck drivers in particular.

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