Pawsry GFTV

A man is charged with aggravated assault after allegedly attacking a transgender woman with a sword at Pittsburgh’s Wyndham Grand Hotel.

Local news stations, ABC 4 WTAE, CBS KDKA and WPXI 11, report that the incident happened after 1 a.m. on Thursday (4 July). A man named Jake O’Leary, aged 26, from Greenville, South Carolina, was named the aggressor.

He allegedly asked a group of three people, including the victim, to come to Pittsburgh a day earlier, offering his room at the Wyndham Grand for them to sleep over until their room was ready.

After going to bed, O’Leary allegedly got up to brandish a sword, yelling – as CBS KDKA quoted the victims – to the effect of ‘Allah does not approve’ before swinging the sword at the room occupants.

While shielding themselves, the victim was struck multiple times, ABC 4 WTAE reported.

The victim notified the police ‘while bleeding and screaming in the hallway,’ local news stations wrote. Police found blood stains near the room where the attack happened at the fifth floor, with the sword on the entryway to the room.

The victim brought themselves to the hospital while having a severe cut on their hand.

At some point during the incident, O’Leary’s face was injured and was taken to the hospital before being taken to jail, ABC 4 WTAE added.

O’Leary will go to court for a preliminary hearing on July 15.