MIDTOWN — A tourist was stabbed in the back of the head in an unprovoked attack in Midtown early Sunday morning after proposing to his girlfriend in Central Park, police and sources said.
The 23-year-old man from Washington state was walking with friends on East 46th Street near Madison Avenue at about 1:45 a.m. when he noticed a man following them about 50 yards behind, police and sources said.
Suddenly, the attacker ran up and plunged a kitchen knife into the back of the tourist's head, just above where his spine begins, the New York Daily News first reported.
The tourist ran east toward Vanderbilt Avenue, where he took out the knife himself, sources said.
The attacker scratched one of the tourist’s friends in the face before running off toward Fifth Avenue, according to police and sources.
The 23-year-old victim was treated at Bellevue Hospital for minor injuries and released. He was back in Washington by Monday afternoon.
Police described the attacker as a man in his 30s.
There were no arrests by Monday afternoon and the investigation is ongoing.