Police are looking a masked man who slashed a 16-year-old girl in the face as she was on her way to school in Queens.
Investigators say the attack happened around 8:20 a.m. on Wednesday in the Whitestone section of the borugh.
They say the victim is an exchange student from China who has only been in the country for eight months.
"As she's walking east on 13th Avenue near 147th Street, she is accosted from behind by an individual with a hood up,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said. “He is wearing a surgical mask and has surgical gloves on. She is slashed in her face twice, once from her ear to throat and another part of the face as well.”
“It just makes me sick,” one resident said. “I'm ready to make a move and get out of here. I mean I know theres crime everywhere, for the money you pay to live in the city, its not worth it."
The girl’s injuries are not considered life-threatening.
Anyone with information on the case should contact the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS, or text CRIMES and then enter TIP577, or visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com.