A flight was diverted on Saturday after an Indian man allegedly stabbed two teens on a plane en route from Chicago to Germany.
The flight made an unscheduled landing at Boston Logan International Airport, where Praneeth Kumar Usiripalli, 28, was taken into custody and later charged with assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm on an aircraft.
Usiripalli does not currently have legal status in the U.S., according to the Justice Department, which noted that the 28-year-old was previously admitted to the country on a student visa and was enrolled in a master’s program in biblical studies.
According to charging documents, the first 17-year-old male passenger, Minor A, was sitting in a middle seat when he woke up following meal service to find Usiripalli standing over him. The suspect then allegedly used his right hand to strike the teenager in his left clavicle with a metal fork.
Prosecutors say Usiripalli then used the same fork to lunge toward the second 17-year-old male passenger, Minor B, who was sitting in a middle seat of the center row of the Lufthansa flight. The attacker then reportedly struck Minor B in the back of his head with the fork, causing a laceration.
Flight crew members tried to subdue the man, according to prosecutors. But when they tried, Usiripalli allegedly raised his hand, pantomimed a gun with his fingers, put it in his mouth and pretended to pull the trigger.
At that point, prosecutors say he turned to a female passenger and slapped her with his hand. He then tried to slap a member of the flight crew as well, according to the DOJ.
Usiripalli will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date, officials said. He faces up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
Â
