ABOVE PHOTO: David Oh
associated press
Philadelphia Republican city councilman David Oh, who was stabbed during an attempted robbery near his home is expected to fully recover from his wounds, and bears no ill will toward his attacker, a council aide said Thursday.
The attack occurred as Councilman Oh was getting out of his car late Wednesday night, police said.
A man approached him and started saying something that Oh could not understand, so the councilman started talking to him, police Lt. John Walker said.
The man then pulled out a knife and told Oh to give him his keys before stabbing the councilman once in the left side of his body and then fleeing, police said.
Oh underwent surgery overnight, said Matt Pershe, a legislative aide.
“He will remain at the hospital to monitor his recovery, but is expected to fully heal and return home soon,” Pershe said.
Pershe said the man was a complete stranger to the councilman.
The attack occurred on the same block where Oh, who is married and has four children, has lived since the 1960s. First elected to council in 2011, he’s the first Asian-American elected to public office in Philadelphia and the only U.S. military veteran currently serving on council.
“He doesn’t have any ill will toward the person who attacked him,” Pershe said. “That’s just the way he is.”
Oh’s late father founded Philadelphia’s first Korean-American church in 1953.
According to Oh’s council website, one of his cousins was murdered in 1958 by a group of teens while a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania. Oh’s parents requested leniency for the boys and started a fund to help them upon their release.
Police said they would be searching for surveillance video and interviewing potential witnesses. Democratic Mayor Jim Kenney urged anyone with information to come forward.
“We are all praying for Councilman Oh’s quick recovery and thinking of his family during this incredibly difficult time,” Kenney said in a statement. “Whenever violence happens on our streets it is a terrible tragedy. When it happens near our homes, where we are supposed to feel safe, it is all the more devastating.”
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