7-year-old girl kicks suspect and frees herself after he attacks her with a knife in Detroit park

WXYZ

Click here for updates on this story

DETROIT, Mich. (WXYZ) — A 7-year-old girl is recovering after a man attacked her with a knife in a Detroit park earlier this week.

Detroit police said the incident occurred around 3:45 p.m. Tuesday in Ryan Park near Greenview and Kirkwood avenues.

Saida M. spoke to 7 News Detroit about the attack with her mother’s permission.

Saida, who was in the park with a family member, was playing when a man came up to her and randomly attacked her.

“I was playing on a spinning thing that was green… and I was playing… and then I saw like a man and said hello to him. And he… came towards me, and he… walked towards me like that. And one hand was nothing. And he just lifted my head. The other thing was a pocket knife. And then he just shoved the knife at my throat,” Saida said. “I kicked his legs medium hard.”

Police said that’s when Saida screamed for help and ran.

“She did what she should have done,” the Detroit police commander said. Vernal Newson.

Neighbors heard the screams and ran to help however they could.

“I immediately grabbed some gauze pads and put them on her … to help her and help her stop the bleeding,” Donna Mockbil said. “She says, ‘Oh, I’m going to die and no one will be here with me,’ and I got tears in my eyes.”

Donna’s son also jumped to help and followed the suspect until he was arrested.

The suspect is 73 years old and was arrested without incident, according to Detroit police. The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office has since charged Gary Lanksy with assault with intent to murder and aggravated assault in the case.

Police do not believe this was a hate crime. They believe the suspect was in a mental health crisis at the time of the attack.

“In my 40 years as a police officer … mental health has become one of the top issues in our community,” Newson said.

Saida was stitched up in the hospital and released. She is now recovering at home.

Please note: This content is subject to a strict local market embargo. If you have the same market as the author of this article, you are not allowed to use it on any platform.