Man who stopped bus stop attacker says he acted without thinking

Ashkan Asadian said he moved without hesitation when he saw 76-year-old Moshe Shine being stabbed in the neck at a bus stop in Golders Green. The 61-year-old said he acted on the spur of the moment and did not think about the danger, only that he might be able to save a life.

Asadian said the attack began shortly after 11:15 BST on Wednesday morning, when he saw the man later identified in court as Essa Suleiman striking Shine. Fearing Shine would be killed, Asadian rushed in, tried to disarm the suspect, and then chased him when he fled into a nearby greengrocer’s. He said he barricaded the man inside with a shopping trolley to buy time for police to arrive. CCTV showed Shine standing at the bus stop and adjusting his kippah moments before the assault.

Police said two men, aged 76 and 34, were injured and were later described as stable. Shine suffered serious injuries and has since been discharged from hospital. Court reporting said he also suffered a punctured lung. The attack was reported at 11:16 a.m. local time, and emergency crews and officers moved quickly into the North London street scene as the suspect was taken into custody.

Suleiman, 45, was charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a bladed article in a public place. He was also charged over an attempted murder in Southwark earlier the same day. Court reporting said he was under the care of mental health services and living in supported accommodation for people released from secure hospital. Counter Terrorism Policing is leading the investigation, and one line of inquiry is whether the assault deliberately targeted the Jewish community.

The response has gone beyond the courtroom. Sadiq Khan condemned the attack, Metropolitan Police chiefs stepped up high-visibility patrols, and British police announced £25 million in new funding to help protect Jewish communities. The assault landed in a community already on edge after the attempted firebombing of Finchley Reform Synagogue on April 15 and an arson attack on four Hatzola ambulances on March 23, sharpening fears that what began at a bus stop in Golders Green was part of a wider pattern of antisemitic violence.