A 26-year-old female tourist was forced to her knees by a knife-wielding attacker who shouted the radical Islamist "Allah is great" line during several terrifying moments at the Colosseum in Rome.
"It seemed like a scene from ISIS," one witness said, the Daily Mail reported. "He made the girl get down on her knees like you see in the terrorists' videos, while he held a knife to her throat. The only thing missing was the orange jumpsuit."
The woman, Chiara Frisco, was held hostage in front of scores of tourists for several frightening moments as her attacker screamed religious-laced statements, including "It is God that sends me," the Daily Mail reported.
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He ultimately released Frisco and fled. Police captured him a short time later, Fox News reported.
Chiara was sent to a nearby hospital for treatment of shock. She said from her hospital room, La Repubblica reported: "We came from Vasto to celebrate my sister's graduation. We were supposed to meet her in the evening. While waiting we decided to take a walk and go and see the Colosseum. I felt myself pulled suddenly into the middle of the crowd. Then I felt the blade of the knife that he was holding against me. I feared the worst would happen. I could not see the weapon. The whole attack last seconds but I felt a tremendous fear. The man was yelling like a maniac. Luckily the police came through."
Police said they couldn't shoot the attacker because of concerns about hitting other tourists.
"He made the girl kneel and held a knife to her throat," one officer said, the Daily Mail reported. "It seemed like an ISIS film that you see online."
The suspect, charged with attempted murder and resisting arrest, was not identified by name but police said he was a 33-year-old Brazilian man.