A Lufthansa airlines flight from Chicago to Germany was forced to divert to Boston after a passenger stabbed two teenagers with a metal fork, authorities said.
Praneeth Kumar Usiripalli, a 28-year-old Indian national, has been charged with one count of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to do bodily harm in connection with the mid-flight violence, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts said. He was aboard flight 431, traveling to Frankfurt at the time, when the incident occurred on Saturday.
Federal prosecutors said the first victim, a 17-year-old asleep in a middle seat, woke up to see Usiripalli standing over him with the fork from the recent meal service. He allegedly lunged at the teen, “striking him in the left clavicle area with a metal fork.”
Usiripalli then attacked another 17-year-old, seated on the right side of the first victim, striking him in the back of the head, officials said.
“When flight crew members attempted to subdue Usiripalli, he allegedly raised his hand, formed a gun with his fingers, put it in his mouth and pulled an imaginary trigger,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Amidst the chaos, Usipiralli “turned toward a female passenger to his left and slapped her with his hand.” He also tried to hit a member of the flight crew, according to the statement.
Usiripalli was arrested after the plane landed at Boston’s Logan International Airport. He was previously admitted to the United States on a student visa and was enrolled in a master’s program in biblical studies, according to federal officials.
With News Wire Services
