COLUMBUS, Ohio (WPVI) -- The machete-wielding man who stormed an Israeli-owned Ohio restaurant is now being identified by authorities as a Somali National.
He was known to the FBI, but not under full-scale investigation, officials say.
The attack began around 6 p.m. Thursday at the Nazareth Restaurant & Deli.
Witnesses say he randomly attacked people as they sat unsuspectingly at their tables.
"I was sitting by myself and when I saw him start hitting people, I ran out," said witness Karen Bass. "I kept falling, but I got away."
Witnesses say the assailant, identified by authorities as 30-year-old Mohamed Barry, went table to table hacking at customers, some of them defending themselves with chairs before he ran out.
Four customers were injured in the attack, one of them critically.
The man was later killed by police a few miles away after getting out of his car wielding a machete and knife.
Investigators say Barry had traveled to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates in 2012.
Investigators are now trying to determine if the attack was linked to terrorism.
"Lone individual, machete going into a public place, those are things that give us concern," said Columbus Police Chief Michael Woods.
The restaurant is owned by Hani Baransi, an Arab Christian from Israel.
He believes his business was targeted because the assailant had gone in 30 minutes before the attack, asking about him and where he was from.
"Do I feel it? Yes. I hope I'm wrong. I hope it's not the case, and if it is, I hope it's a one time thing you know," said Baransi.
He says he was not working Thursday night because he had gone home with a migraine headache.